The Meg, short for “megalodon,” refers to a massive prehistoric shark dwelling below what scientists initially believed to be the ocean floor. When a team of explorers is trapped in their submarine and at the mercy of the enormous creature, it’s up to disgraced deep-sea rescue diver Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) to save them.
On a scale of Jaws to Sharknado, this movie is closer to the latter half. The acting quality is mixed. Leading man Statham is pretty much what you would expect. We see his abs. We have trouble understanding what he says in his gravelly voice and thick British accent. He gives a fun performance, if not necessarily memorable. Bingbing Li is a great leading lady as Suyin; she gives a genuine, dynamic, likable perfomance. The supporting cast is mostly decent, especially the delightful Page Kennedy as DJ, who has some solid comedic timing, but Ruby Rose as Jaxx is painfully boring; she’s always cast as the sarcastic cool girl and gives the same one-note performance every time, and this role is no exception. The one time she has to show any real emotion is embarrassingly bad; she has the least convincing “crying” face I have ever seen.
The movie is also a mess writing-wise, mostly due to sloppy pacing. At first it seems like the focus will be on rescuing the trio (Jessica McNamee as Lori, Masi Oka as Toshi, and Olafur Darri Olafsson as The Wall), but that is resolved surprisingly quickly and the focus shifts to finding and killing the shark, which you think will be the focus for the rest of the movie, but then (spoiler warning: highlight to read) they kill it barely over halfway through the movie only to discover there’s a second meg!
It’s a pretty lame twist to begin with, but to introduce it so far from the ending is extra weird. It would have been more effective if they had made the rescue mission at the beginning longer; not only does spending more time in the isolated setting make the conflict more suspenseful, but making it longer would help balance the “hunt and kill” portion of the story.
All that said, The Meg is visually impressive. The CGI is excellent and believable, thanks in large part to mostly showing the shark in quick, brief shots or extremely close up or in shadowy underwater shots, so it’s easy to forget it’s computer-animated. The deep sea environment is beautifully haunting and imaginative without feeling unrealistic. While releasing so many feature films in IMAX often feels overdone, it’s absolutely warranted in this case, because the visuals are so much more breathtaking.
While The Meg is by no means a brilliant movie, it’s still a cool one to see on the big screen. If you enjoy cheesy action flicks and well-done CGI, you’ll like this one.
Have you seen ‘The Meg’? Well, what did you think?
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I’m glad to read that the meg doesn’t get over exposed with screen-time, that can completely ruin the intensity and the trickery of the CGI. I do want to see this movie, but I’m not expecting to be blown away by spectacular acting and an unforgettable plot 🙂 nice review, thankyou!
Right!? Too much CGI can push a movie into “bad Syfy channel flick” territory, but it’s really well-done here! I might have my gripes about the writing, but the visuals are excellent! Thank you so much!
Couldn’t agree more!
Believe it or not, I’ve seen all of Jason Statham’s movies. He’s sort of like this generation’s Van Damme, Chuck Norris and Steven Seagal roll into one. Ha ha!
I’ll probably see this one when it hits home video, don’t feel like I should spend money on seeing it at a theater. I’m sure the effects looks good since they spent close to $200mil on it.
Hahaha, that’s definitely an accurate description of him! He might not have much range, but he still gives a fun performance in action movies!
Yeah, if you have the chance, it’s worth seeing in a theater. The work and money they put into the special effects really paid off.
A combo of Van Damme, Chuck Norris and Steven Seagal! Oh my, too funny Ted! I somehow thought you’d be all over this one, but yeah I was astonished to learn about the budget, I thought this is more like a B-movie w/ a $50 something million budget!
As you know I love those cheesy 80s and 90s action films and most of Statham’s movies falls into that category. I thought about seeing this one but then the PG-13 appeared and that took away my excitement for it. Apparently the director edited down the graphic violent scenes to get the lighter rating and Jason’s not too happy about it. But it paid off since it’s making pretty good numbers at the box office. I’ll just wait till it hits bluray when the eventual R rated version comes out.
I’m never a huge fan of these monster-y movies, so I probably will skip this one but it’s nice to know that it’s not that worth watching in the first place!
Haha, I mean, it’s worth catching if you ARE into monster-y/action/animal horror movies, but if you’re not, then I’d understand skipping it. 😀
Great review Laura! I’m actually really looking forward to seeing this. If it keeps me entertained throughout, I think that’s all I can really ask for 🙂
Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy it! Writing and some acting aside, it’s still definitely a fun watch, and the visual effects totally make seeing it in theaters worth it. 🙂
Not as dumb and silly as it should be. However, still some fun to be had here. Nice review.
Yeah, it doesn’t quite fall into the “so dumb it’s funny” category, but it’s still enjoyable. Thank you!
I think it was at the Jaws end. I think it was a good mix of tense and tongue-in-cheek.
I kind of agree more with Ruth’s description of it feeling like a “B-movie with a $50 something million budget,” but I’m glad you enjoyed it a little more than I did! I will say that it’s gotten me curious about the books. I have a friend who’s a big fan of them, and I wonder if I’d feel differently (for better or worse) about the movie if I read the source material.
Books are often better. Worth a try certainly. I don’t think it was meant to take itself too seriously but it has to be at least at the top end of B heading towards A movies because SFX definitely werent straight-to-video level….and Jason Statham if nothing else!
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