The Meg Delivers Reasonable Fun Despite Feeling Like A Missed Opportunity

      

      The 2018 summer movie box office season was dominated by blockbuster sequels such as Avengers: Infinity War, Deadpool ll, The Incredibles ll, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Ant Man And The Wasp, and Mission Impossible: Fallout. One of the more interesting movies to come out last summer and turned into a huge success was The Meg. a 2018 science fiction action film starring Jason Statham, that's loosely based on the 1997 novel titled Meg: A Novel Of Deep Terror By Steve Alten. After spending years in development hell, the films rights went from The Walt Disney Studios to Warner Brothers Pictures before finally being greenlighted in 2015. The Meg ended up being a Chinese-American co-production grossing over $530 million worldwide with reviews being mixed from both critics and audiences. Putting the movies box office success aside, The Meg works best as being an extremely fun B- movie, that was made with the sole purpose of delivering popcorn entertainment to its audience. The film is no Jaws but it never tries to be as its tone is meant to be cheesier, requiring that the audience shut their brains off when watching it. For some, that won't be enough as more substance is needed in order to be satisfied. For others The Meg works best as being throwaway fun though comes across as feeling like a missed opportunity.

      The plot for The Meg takes place five years after a deadly attack centering around a Megalodon shark originally thought to be extinct. The resurgence of the giant shark prompts a group of scientists led by Jason Statham, to try and stop the enormous animal with tragedy striking them along the way. The Meg feels like a flick, that could've easily been a vehicle which starred Dwayne Johnson as the films main lead since it feels like the type of the film he would star in. Instead we get Jason Statham, whose more than a worthy successor to take the main role in an action movie like this. The film is overall is fun to watch as an enjoyable B- creature flick as it has an appealing cast to go with the films main star such as the Megalodon. The problem with the flick is despite it being cheesy fun, it lacks genuine suspense and thrills to build up the anticipation that the Megalodon is coming. What helps it is not just the impressive special effects, but the appeal of Statham as the main lead. He manages himself well here with a character he can play off of whose a mixture of a scientist overcoming grief turned action hero. The film is also elevated by its strong set and creature designs with music that makes up for the lack of suspense, breathing life to the shark attacks. The films pacing keeps the film going with audiences being distracted by what's on the screen instead of questioning the films logic and plot. The films lack of tension is made up by the energy and enthusiasm its cast brings to the table as well as the films crew putting together a nice sea monster, that manages to keep audiences engaged for the most part.

      In terms of acting performances, the cast here does a strong job and gives the impression that they're having a ball with the story their bringing to the big screen. Jason Statham is the star of the film and brings his action star charisma to the role. He's in top form here and delivers some solid action sequences, making him the ideal choice for the main role. Bingbing Li delivers a strong job playing Suyin, Oceanographer and love interest to Statham's character as she helps him save the crew trapped underwater while catching the Megalodon. Rainn Wilson does a good job playing Jack Morris, one of the films main antagonists outside of the giant shark. Wilson does well playing both the selfish and sarcastic greedy billionaire, who finances the organization called Zhang Oceanic. Cliff Curtis does well playing Statham's character Mac's old friend Jonas, he doesn't have as much to do here as the other main actors but makes the best with what he's given. Other notable performances come from Winston Chao as the leader of the Zhang Oceanic laboratory and father of Suying. Jessica McNamee as Mac's ex Lori, Ruby Rose as generic tough girl Jaxx Herd, Page Kennedy as DJ, the generic black dude in a horror movie that screams and says silly lines in hopes of making the audience laugh, Olafur Darri Olafsson, Robert Taylor, and Heroe's Masi Oka in a small yet notable role as one of the underwater crewmen. The ensemble cast as a whole makes the film much more entertaining than what it would've turned out had the cast been less appealing and diverse. Everyone brings their A game here and work beautifully off each other regardless of the films script issues which includes many of the characters coming across as being stereotypical archetypes in a typical monster flick.

      As far as the directing goes, Jon Turteltaub is no Spielberg in terms of making a crafty shark movie, but it also felt as if he wasn't trying to compete with that film and chose instead to go for shock value rather than deep elaboration of the films characters and story. The film relies on shock value regarding the films monster and reasonable amount of gore to draw its audience into fearing the Megalodon, though the gore is restrained to allow for a wider audience to view the story with its PG-13 rating. Turtletaub for the most part does an effective job in steering the ship, though he fails in making the story truly memorable for audiences as there's no real suspense or tension present to leave audiences at the edge of their seat. The Megalodon though impressive and huge, often feels as if it's thrown at the audience with the implication being thrown at the audience such as there's the shark now get scared with little effort in doing so. The film is lacking a stamp which would make it distinct from the other typical monster movies, that surround it regarding oceanic monsters. The films cinematography by Tom Stern is both crisp and clear making it an experience, that would be visually stunning to watch on a big screen, preferrably IMAX. The character Suyin has a visually striking sequence where her character is on the ocean floor and comes across a giant Squid, who then comes across the giant Megalodon. It's moments like these where the movie shows it has a pulse and what could've been even more of a wild ride had the director pushed the limits harder. The moments on the films ocean floor are a breathtaking sight adding to the films visuals flare. The films score by Harry Gregson-Williams is strong and effective, often carrying the film when the moments of suspense and tension are in short supply.

       The screenplay by Dean Georgaris, Jon Hoeber, and Erich Hoeber is standard for this type of monster flick with generic scientist characters delivering a vague backstory to the audience regarding the Megalodons origins. All the side characters feel like their just there to move the story along without actually taking on a life of their own despite the appealing actors playing them. Statham's character is the only one that actually appears to have a reasonable amount of depth as his character initially refuses to go back in the water due to the grief of having to make a tough decision to sacrifice the lives of part of his previous crew in order to save the rest otherwise they all would've died. The subplot involving Mac being brought back into the water to save his ex-wife, was a good move except the subplot is rendered useless after awhile due to the characters blossoming romance with Suying. Wilson's character Jack feels like a rich version of the character of Quint from Jaws, rude, selfish, and eager to catch the shark with both men being outsmarted by the opposite species in the end. The Meg's script feels like a mixture of interesting ideas, that are meshed together and ultimately unfinished though somehow it manages to work as being average popcorn entertainment due to the way Statham and Turtletaub package the film. Who doesn't get a kick out of seeing Jason Statham ride a prehistoric sea animal?

      Basically when it comes down to the level of enjoyment The Meg delivers, those who enjoyed Deep Blue Sea will find enjoyment with this movie. Like that film, The Meg is fast-paced, silly, absurd, and yet it manages to still be fun and entertaining on the conditions that one doesn't take it too seriously. The film isn't as well-built nor as creative as recent shark pics such as The Shallows and 47 Meters Down in terms of building suspense. The film isn't as well-crafted as a film like Crawl but it delivers in being an entertaining yet forgettable popcorn ride with Statham helping to elevate the film with his skills as an action star. If one is looking for something to entertain them for nearly two hours without the plot being too complexed and just wanting good old fashioned spectacle then this is that film. The Meg can be enjoyed for offering audiences a temporary escape from reality though should not be taken as a serious form of entertainment. The film is no Jaws and feels like it never attempts to be anything more than just cheesy fun. Perhaps that's the best way to look at the film as there isn't much else outside of the appeal of it's main star and the Megalodon itself, which steals the show whenever it's on the big screen. This film can only be taken as seriously as one views 1999's Deep Blue Sea. Whatever one thought of that film, that's what they will think of The Meg ultimately. The film ultimately serves as being one big missed opportunity as it could've been something really cool to watch on the big screen. With the budget this film had (170 million), and the fact that much of the films gore was cut down to secure a PG-13 rating, this movie should've taken the risks and embraced it's B- nature in terms of being even more over-the-top and ridiculous if it wasn't going to go the Jaws route and try to be something with substance. Instead what audiences get is a mediocre and disappointing action flick, that's not terrible but it's not great. It just falls in line of being forgettable entertainment.

Final Verdict: If you want throwaway popcorn entertainment, this is the film for you. If you want something more complexed and character driven with it's story while having the element of surprise in terms of a shark attacking human, watch Jaws instead.