Summary

  • Critics have harshly judged Meg 2: The Trench, resulting in a lower Rotten Tomatoes score than the original, which may suggest that the sequel is a significant step-down and a terrible movie overall.
  • The Rotten Tomatoes scores for both films indicate that while The Meg received mixed reviews, most critics agree that Meg 2: The Trench is even worse, with many complaining about the excessive runtime and wasted exposition in the first hour.
  • The addition of two more Megalodons and dinosaurs in Meg 2: The Trench didn't improve its quality, as many critics found it to be a replica of the original film, leading to a poor Rotten Tomatoes score for the sequel.

Meg 2: The Trench is the follow-up to 2018's The Meg, and while the first movie received mixed reviews, critics have harshly judged the sequel, resulting in a lower Rotten Tomatoes score than the original. The 2023 science fiction action film features the return of Jason Statham as Jonas Taylor as he and his new team come face to face with not one but three Megalodons, as seen in the trailer. But since three prehistoric larger-than-life sharks weren't big enough of a threat for Statham to face down, the character in the sequel also had to contend with dinosaurs.

Although The Meg didn't receive raving reviews when it was released, its impressive box office numbers were enough to convince Warner Bros. Pictures to greenlight a sequel. However, it's possible that the box office won't be able to save the action movie this time. Many critics are not fans of Meg 2: The Trench, as indicated in the film's awful Rotten Tomatoes score, so perhaps the sequel will be Statham's last outing as the Megalodon slayer.

Meg 2's Rotten Tomatoes Score Is Almost Half As Bad As The Meg's 46%

Jason Statham riding a jet ski on The Meg 2 poster

As of the writing of this article, Meg 2: The Trench's Rotten Tomatoes score is 27 percent, which, as anyone could imagine, is not a great indication of the film's quality. Of course, on many occasions, audiences love a movie more than critics do, but only time will tell if that is the case for Meg 2: The Trench. Meanwhile, The Meg's Rotten Tomatoes score is 46 percent five years after its release. Both films are considered rotten, but while reviews were more mixed for the original feature, most critics agree that the sequel is a significant step down from The Meg and is, overall, a terrible movie. Related: The Meg 2 Rotten Tomatoes Score Debuts 20% Below Original Movie (& That Was Already A Splat)

Why Meg 2's Reviews Are So Much Worse

Custom image of Jason Statham as Jonas and a meg eating a dinosaur in Meg 2: The Trench.

Since Meg 2: The Trench's Rotten Tomatoes score suggests that it is half as bad as The Meg, there must be a few reasons why the sequel's reviews are significantly inferior to the original film's reviews. For one thing, sequels generally don't live up to the hype of the first movie. Although most critics didn't love The Meg, both films' Rotten Tomatoes scores indicate they liked it better than the second movie and believed the first was superior.

Most reviews also complained about the excessive runtime (the sequel is almost two hours long) and pointed out that the first hour was wasted on exposition. As a result, half of the movie is boring. Overall, some critics believed that Meg 2: The Trench was a replica of The Meg, just with two more Megalodons and dinosaurs, which is why its Rotten Tomatoes score is so bad compared to the original film — the first one did it first and did it better.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes