Produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura,
Colin Wilson, Belle Avery
Screenplay by Dean Georgaris,
Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber
Based on Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror
by Steve Alten
Directed by Jon Turteltaub
Starring Jason Statham, Li Bingbing,
Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose,
Winston Chao, Cliff Curtis
I went into the screening of The Meg with one caveat; that it be as ridiculous as it looks in the trailer.
It was. And it was glorious.
Under the expert direction of Jon Turteltaub (the National Treasure films) and loosely based on the 1997 sci-fi horror novel Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Alten, The Meg is a treat and a summer blockbuster B-movie if there ever was one.
Taking so much inspiration from, and straight lifting of scenes from, every giant shark, killer whale, dinosaur, and monster movie that came before it, The Meg, serves as a beautiful love letter to all those great and not so great B-movie gems.
It is unapologetic and rightfully so, because unlike other lesser films, namely EVERY Devlin and Emmerich film, this one captures the spirit and the hilarity in the absurd situations the characters find themselves in. Never taking itself too seriously.
The plot revolves around a deep sea marine exploration team on a multi billion dollar rig in the Pacific trying to prove that the bottom of the ocean isn’t really the bottom. but a thick themal layer of ultra cold water keeping all sorts of exotic and never before seen sea life and environments hidden since ocean exploartion began.
When danger and tragedy strikes. They must call on washed up and disgraced deep see rescue diver, Jonas Taylor (Statham) to do what he does best. Save everyone and kill the monster from the deep.
This movie is WAY BETTER than Jurassic World: Forgotten Kingdom and needs to be seen to be believed. Clocking in at just under 2 hours though may be a little long for some, but it was just right in my eyes. It just keeps going and I am so happy it does. Just when I though it was safe to go to the back in the water the water just keeps getting more dangerous!
The Meg plays on tropes and tops the tropes by taking the conventional trope and then compounding on top of it to create a Megalodon sized trope that literally kept me laughing the entire film. I haven’t laughed this much in a film since The Death of Stalin, and I couldn’t breathe after that film. I still laugh at scenes from it when I remember them.
Former professional diver and swimmer and all around cool ass action star, Jason Statham, is perfectly cast as, Jonas, the reluctant hero whom no one listens to but should. Li Bingbing is great as the snooty and sometimes standoffish Suyin, daughter of the Zhang (Winston Chao), the man whose idea and concept the marine platform and underwater lab it is. Stealing the show, though is 10 year old Shuya Sophia Cai as Suyin’s daughter, Meiying. I usually dislike most child actors but she is a treat.
If you want a good solid laugh and a bunch of jump scares, then this is the film for you. It is perfect for those hot summer days or evenings when you just want to turn your critical brain off and watch a giant shark eat a ton of people.
To paraphrase that old fisherman from that famous shark film:
You go in the theater?
Sharks in the theater…
