Jason Statham built his reputation on dependable action vehicles that rarely were met with critical acclaim, but few of his projects opened to as rocky a reception as The Meg. The 2018 creature feature sent rescue diver Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) after a resurfaced megalodon in the Mariana Trench, drawing tepid reviews from critics, yet the film still finished its run with a $529 million worldwide gross. That box office strength was enough to greenlight Meg 2: The Trench in 2023, a sequel that landed an even rougher critical drubbing and a diminished $397 box office haul. Nevertheless, years after leaving theaters, Statham’s shark saga is proving it still has plenty of life left on streaming.
Meg 2: The Trench currently sits at the number eight position on Netflix’s global chart for the platform’s most-viewed English-language films, according to FlixPatrol. Curiously, The Meg landed on HBO Max this same month, and its comparatively muted reception there tracks with the numbers, since the original holds a 44% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes against the sequel’s 72%. The phenomenon is also not isolated to Netflix, as earlier this year, The Meg 2 also made a splash on Prime Video. The sequel’s climb up Netflix’s rankings is a notable feat considering the film has been streaming somewhere since 2023, and it previously had a run on Netflix itself. That level of staying power suggests many viewers are returning for repeat watches rather than experiencing the film for the first time.
What Makes Meg 2: The Trench So Enticing?
The criticism aimed at Meg 2: The Trench is not unfounded. The film leans into bombastic action beats that prioritize scale over logic, stacking multiple megalodons, a giant squid, and reptilian creatures into a plot that spends little time on character development. The dialogue frequently sacrifices cohesion for one-liners, and the visual effects work, especially in wide shots featuring the film’s various sea monsters, occasionally struggle to sell the illusion of realism. Critics who found Ben Wheatley’s sequel to be a step down from the original were reacting to a film that asks audiences to suspend a significant amount of disbelief, particularly during set pieces that stretch plausibility well past the original film’s already generous boundaries.
However, none of those criticisms address what actually makes Meg 2: The Trench work as a streaming rewatch. Once viewers embrace the sequel for what it is, a spectacle built entirely around giant sharks doing outrageous things, the film becomes far more entertaining, not unlike movies such as Sharknado. The absurdity of Meg 2‘s set pieces, including Jonas Taylor fending off prehistoric predators with jet skis and improvised weapons, plays as comedy as much as action, and that tonal shift rewards viewers willing to laugh along rather than critique the film on serious terms. That means the same excess that frustrated critics becomes the sequel’s greatest asset when approached with the right expectations.
Meg 2: The Trench also thrives in a streaming environment built around casual viewing. The film requires no prior franchise knowledge, no emotional investment in ongoing plotlines, and no patience for slow-burn tension, making it easy to put on without the hesitation that often accompanies a bigger creative commitment. That accessibility helps explain why the sequel keeps resurfacing across different platforms years after its theatrical run ended. Despite that continued success, Warner Bros. has not confirmed a third installment, and director Ben Wheatley has previously indicated he does not currently know the status of any follow-up. With six novels in Steve Alten’s source material still unadapted, the franchise has no shortage of story to pull from, but Meg 2: The Trench‘s streaming success alone has not yet been enough to secure The Meg 3.
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