Ben Wheatley is a good director. The Meg is dumb fun.

Ben Wheatley’s Meg 2: The Trench is neither good nor fun, raising the question of why the hell this pretty damn awful movie exists.

The prospect of seeing the filmmaker behind High-Rise and Free Fire continue the intentionally goofy good saga of Jonas “Eco James Bond” Taylor (Jason Statham), and perhaps even elevate it with his technical prowess and love of genre fare is plenty appealing. And the return of Staham, Cliff Curtis, and Page Kennedy, plus the exact same screenwriting team suggest similar entertainment the second go-round with the promise of even more bloodthirsty Megalodons in the mix.

But no — the makers of The Trench sadly want to tell a serious story this time and withhold big, stupid shark action from viewers for the majority of its overlong runtime.

Chased into the deep ocean by an escaped Meg, our wannabe Alien crew stumbles upon other humans mysteriously running a shady operation on the ocean floor and are pulled into a dull web of corruption and deception. Reaching safety at these depths involves lengthy stretches in dark water where it’s difficult to tell what’s going on, and after braving roughly 12 too many close calls, the survivors return to the surface for some long-delayed whimsy that somewhat resembles the highs of The Meg.

By that point, however, Wheatley — or whichever assistant director took over while he napped — and the seemingly AI-aided/hampered scribes have put so much crap onscreen that 20-ish minutes of ridiculousness barely make a dent. Why they didn’t focus on this tone earlier is a matter for these cinematic sinners and their therapist/religious leaders.

Grade: D-plus. Rated PG-13. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Carolina Cinemark, and Regal Biltmore Grande.

(Photo: Warner Bros.)