August 11, 2023 – One of the reasons I went to see this movie is that it is being shown in 3D for a short time. So this review speaks to the high 3D quality of this movie, and may not apply much to the 2D version most will see.

While both the original film “The Meg” and this sequel were shown in 3D, the quality of 3D in the sequel is far superior to the original, while the story in the original is the better one. What makes the 3D so good in the sequel? It's the planning and execution, as well as keeping 3D in mind throughout the filming process.

In most 3D conversions from 2D (that's right it wasn't filmed in native 3D) 3D seems to be pretty much an afterthought, but in the best 3D conversions (such as “Pacific Rim” or “Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness”) 3D is treated as a key element. This seems to be another good example of how good a 3D conversion can be if it is given serious attention throughout the process. The DNEG visual effects company did this particular 2D to 3D conversion.

In this film 3D not only produces some serious pop-outs (negative parallax images that seem to come out of the screen at you) but also some serious depth and perspective effects that gives the viewer a better view of the scale of things in the film. This indicates a proper separation of the stereo pairs. If the stereo separation is too little, as it is in many 3D films, the 3D effect is too weak. Good separation, as it is in this film, creates more of a “wow” effect. As far as a stereo conversion, this one is aces.

Back to the film. It is indeed sillier than the first film was, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. This movie embraces the silliness and has fun with it. While the first film was more serious, this one veers more towards comic horror. It's got all the classic monsters, dinosaurs, a giant octopus, giant megs, and some kind of air and water breathing high speed crocodile things.

Lots of people get killed in the monster attacks, except for the cute little dog of course. The indestructible hero, Jason Statham (reprising his role as Jonas Taylor) dispatches monsters left and right, as well as dealing with the bad guys, led by Montes (Sergio Peris-Mencheta of “Rambo: Last Blood”) and some corrupt corporate types intent on raping the environment for profit.

There is plenty of action in the last half of the movie, but it takes a long time to set all that up. A good deal of time is used to explain the corporate corruption, the illegal mining operation, sabotage of equipment and the massive explosions that release the monsters from the undersea thermocline barrier that imprisoned the monsters for millenia.

This is pretty standard summer movie action, but it does have exceptional 3D for a converted film. This movie rates a C+.

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