With the craze of Shark Week and the Sharknado series, it was only a matter of time before another shark movie made it to the big screen. The Meg is that movie, but it’s not Jaws, Deep Blue Sea or even Sharknado. The Meg is an interesting mix of previous shark films that are entertaining enough, but probably not what people were hoping it would. Read on to find out more in our review of The Meg.
The Meg boasts a budget of $150 million, and once you see some of the effects in the film, it’s easy to see where that money went. Add in the cost of Jason Statham and Chinese film star, Bingbing Li, and that doesn’t leave a lot of money for much else. Unfortunately, where The Meg seems to have cut corners is in most of the cast and, more importantly, the script.
It should be stated that the visual effects in The Meg are top notch. The shark is very believable, and all of the high-end tech used throughout the film looks realistic. It’s easy to see where almost all of the budget for The Meg went, but special effects aren’t enough to make a quality film, and that shows through with The Meg.
Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber, the writing team behind such hits as Battleship, had screenplay duties for The Meg. If you’ve seen Battleship, you know that’s not a good thing. In 2018, a movie about a giant shark needs to either be so bad it’s good, like the Sharknado series, or it needs to be a legitimately good film, like Jaws. At the very least, most would expect a modern shark film to hit the somewhat low bar of Deep Blue Sea. The Meg falls right in the middle of all these films, never exceeding expectations or offering anything unique, but never truly losing its audience either.
Most would expect a movie where Jason Statham fights a giant shark to be fun, full of satire and inside jokes. The Meg feels like a movie that should have no problem making fun of itself to give the audience a laugh. Unfortunately, that’s not the case at all. While The Meg takes itself very seriously, despite a few funny moments, and even some epic fights between Jason Statham’s Jonas Taylor character and the Megalodon. Instead of being a crazy fun film, it’s just a high budget action movie that’s mostly saved by Jason Statham fighting a giant shark multiple times.
With a better script and less stereotypical characters, The Meg could’ve been something truly exceptional. It’s very predictable, and aside from quality performances by Statham, Bingbing Li and Rainn Wilson, there’s not much to set this above an average action movie. As long as you go into The Meg just for Statham vs. Shark, you won’t be overly disappointed. Just don’t expect the craziness of Sharknado or the fun of what should have been an epic giant shark movie.
About The Meg
Synopsis:Â After escaping an attack by what he claims was a 70-foot shark, Jonas Taylor must confront his fears to save those trapped in a sunken submersible.
Director:Â Jon Turteltaub
Writers:Â Dean Georgaris, Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber
Stars:Â Jason Statham, Bingbing Li, Rainn Wilson
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1 Hour, 53 Minutes
Bryan Dawson has been writing professionally since the age of 13. He started his career as a video game writer and has since worked for Random House, Prima Games, DirecTV, IGN, AOL, the British Government, and various other organizations. For GNN, Bryan taps into his passion for movies.
