When it comes to modern shark movies, 2018's The Meg does stand out. It's one of the more well-polished films and has the star power of Fast X's Jason Statham. Here, the action superstar plays rescue diver Jonas Taylor, who unwittingly finds himself as a shark hunter when the megalodon escapes and begins causing havoc. And Jonas returns for Meg 2: The Trench, which is promising to turn up the ante.
Interestingly, after killing the giant beast after it rose up through the "breach" in the Mariana Trench, another meg has returned. Well, three, to be more specific. And make no mistake, the first trailer for Meg 2: The Trench promises a bonkers ride to come. But while this might feel like a slapstick romp for new cinema fans, some Easter eggs nod to a couple of shark movies that act as pillars for this sub-genre.
Meg 2 Nods to Quint's Jaws Finale
At the 2:00 minute mark of the Meg 2 trailer, one of the sharks is seen pursuing Jonas. It devours a pier and tries to eat him. However, as it corners him, apart from Jonas' apparently powerful kick, chains hold it back. And the way Jonas looks like he'll fall into the shark's mouth nods to Jaws' epic finale.
In Steven Spielberg's 1975 magnum opus that made folks afraid to go swimming, the shark attacked Quint's boat. It devoured most of the vessel, with Quint sliding into its mouth and being eaten. It was a heartbreaking death, but it paved the way for the shark to swallow a pressurized scuba tank and Brody to blow it up. Sadly, Quint had chains restraining his shark like Jonas, who's clearly homaging the heroic death from decades back.
Meg 2 Riffs on Deep Blue Sea's Most Horrific Death
Around 2:20, Meg 2 sets up a moment that pays tribute to Deep Blue Sea. It comes when a woman at the underwater facility knocks on the glass, reiterating the shark can't break through. She's video-chatting on the phone, nodding to when influencers place themselves in dangerous situations for social media clout. It lays the foundation for a shocking scene as the shark rushes in and eats her.
That said, the concept of this jump scare was seen midway through Deep Blue Sea. There, Samuel L. Jackson's Russell Franklin was one of the execs at a facility experimenting on sharks for a cure for Alzheimer's disease. It was unethical, however, as the sharks got smarter, flooding the place to escape into open water. This created an iconic moment in pop culture when Russell was found giving a heroic speech, only for the shark to come up from a scuba port and devour him. The opening shot of the Meg 2 trailer also riffs on this when a shark fights a T-Rex at the shoreline. So, Meg 2 is clearly leaning into its cheesiness while acknowledging the movies that paved the way.
Meg 2: The Trench swims into theaters Aug. 4.