Image © Warner Bros. Entertainment
Meg 2: The Trench
Meg 2: The Trench
Meg 2: The Trench
(In Theaters August 4)
The first Meg was adapted from Steve Alten’s book Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror. With that film’s success, Jason Statham returns for this sequel, starring alongside Wu Jing, China’s highest-grossing male actor of all time. Here, a malevolent mining operation, working in the depths of the Mariana Trench, causes the release of several megalodons confined there for millions of years. Other behemoths follow, and together they wreak havoc on ocean-goers and beach-lovers alike.
Jonas Taylor (Statham) and Jiuming (Wu) portray oceanic experts seeking a means to put these genies back in the bottle, or failing that, to destroy them. Director Ben Wheatley delivers this big, PG-13 creature-feature with Cliff Curtis as James “Mac” Mackreides, while casting Sophia Cai, Page Kennedy, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Skyler Samuels and Sienna Guillory. Despite ongoing U.S.-China tensions, diplomacy is intact between Hollywood and Beijing, entities that shared the burden of this costly, but likely profitable production. It all goes to prove that all the world loves a movie monster. (Lisa Miller)
Persian Lessons
(Cohen Media Blu-ray)
Gilles had nothing to lose. The Jewish boy was on his way to certain death at the hands of the SS when a fellow prisoner traded him a sandwich for a Persian book. That book saved Gilles’ life. The SS commandant was looking for a Persian. Gilles pretended to be one.
And that’s not the end in this 2020 film by Ukrainian Canadian director Vadim Pereleman. The commandant wants Farsi lessons and Gilles, with quick mind and incredible memory, makes it up as he goes along. Suspense carries the film—will he be found out? Persian Lessons is also interesting for its sideways glances at the camp’s SS men and women. They are ordinary young people doing ordinary things—but employed in an industry of death and licensed for random acts of cruelty. (David Luhrssen)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
(In Theaters August 2)
This fifth animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie was written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who have yet to outgrow their love for the characters. Drawn to look like claymation, the animation appears rough and full of bumps. Jackie Chan voices Splinter, the adoptive rat father of four mutant turtles. Now teenagers, they are: Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.), Raphael (Brady Noon), Donatello (Micah Abbey) and Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu).
Being teens, the four long to be a part of the human world. This is forbidden by Splinter, whose own experiences, outside of New York City’s sewers, have taught him that humans can’t be trusted. While exploring a local high school, the turtles meet April O’Neil (Ayo Edebiri), an ambitious teen reporter. Learning she’s intent upon bringing down criminal mastermind Super Fly (Ice T), the turtles join her mission, reasoning that their heroic actions will bring people’s adulation. The film introduces a small army of additional mutants that further confuse the TMNT as they attempt to understand whether the mutants are friend or foe. By putting on the challenges of teenhood front and center, the film becomes a relatable, coming-of-age comedy starring a quartet of reptiles. (Lisa Miller)
