‘The Meg’ Review: Statham vs. Shark: Dawn of Silliness

The most well-known line from?Jaws is, certainly, Roy Scheider saying “You’re gonna need to have a bigger boat” after his first face-to-face encounter with the killer shark.?The Meg plays like?that it was provided by a person that misheard Scheider, thought he explained “You’re gonna desire a bigger shark.” after which it took it as a flash of inspiration. Because that’s?all it can be; a big-ass shark.

Technically, it’s a?Megalodon (or “Meg” for so few), a prehistoric underwater beast that seemingly went extinct?eons?ago. But no, it turns out the Meg was lying at the end of the ocean for a couple million years (sharks?are extremely patient animals, apparently)?waiting for a gap inside an impassable thermocline (just Wikipedia it).?70 feet long, with jaws stronger than other creature on the planet, man versus Meg “wouldn’t become a fight,” one character says inside the film. “It will be [duh duh?duhhhhhh] a slaughter!”

Ah, but you see, the?guy waging war from this toothy titan is not a ordinary man. Its Jason Statham. And so the slaughter goes both ways; the Meg eats many people (positive thing the cast is very large!) but he will never?quite?catch the mighty Statham, who comes within inches in the Meg’s mouth on numerous occasions, but always?escapes by?a hair. (Or technically a stubble, in the case.)

Statham plays Jonas Taylor a deep-sea diver whose life was destroyed by the botched underwater rescue. Jonas insists a huge shark was to blame for any deaths of his friends, but no one saw this?monster and everyone thinks?Jonas?is crazy. Years later, the shark returns during another deep-sea dive, and this also time it follows Jonas into the top, planning to eat him and any person who stands within their way.?Dude, Meg:?Mechanic: Resurrection?wasn’t?that bad. Chill.

To be brutally honest, the 1st 1 / 2 of?The Meg is pretty around?Mechanic: Resurrection?in comparison to its quality. Too?a lot of time is wasted?on?the characters, their connections, as well as the nitty gritty of ocean-floor rescue operations. Then?The Meg?returns for the surface, and its particular title character attacks Statham with the exceptional chums (please clap) at their?high-tech ocean laboratory. Suddenly the film blossoms into an endearingly silly?slasher movie, that comes with ludicrous jump scares. (As a result, the best shark that ever lived is surprisingly effective in silently sneaking on its prey.)

The Meg?contains a talented a number of snacks (AKA actors) to select from. Dependable Cliff Curtis plays Jonas’ buddy Mac while feisty Ruby Rose is usually a computer expert named Jaxx. Li Bingbing is one other diving expert (and potential Statham love interest) through an adorable daughter (Shuya Sophia Cai, giving good moppet). She’s handy to deliver comic relief and other stakes should the?ocean lab is imperiled. Even more importantly, Rainn Wilson plays an obnoxious rich guy whose sole purpose in the film will be so despicable we actively root to your Meg you can eat him. It’s fun to hope he gets horribly killed!

Like director Jon Turteltaub’s underrated National Treasure?movies,?The Meg comes with an innate perception of its own absurdity, as well as being at its best if this embraces and amplifies that impulse. Its content has the queue “It’s a great day to move fishing!” It features a water-bound chase coming from a tiny dog and a giant shark. Fantastic scene where a little shark swims out from the mouth associated with a bigger shark. And, God bless it, likely to entire sequence where Jason Statham and the Meg enter an underwater dogfight, with Statham within a advanced submarine that looks like a Star Wars spaceship?although Meg, y’know,?swims and stuff.

Statham has more chemistry when using the?shark as compared to Li, along with the film’s long opening half could have been minimize by at the very least Ten minutes. However when?Turteltaub brings it all?together, just like the gonzo finale the spot that the?Meg?turns a crowded Sanya Bay into?her personal?Old Country Shark Buffet, it is just a wide range of fun. And Statham grows to put his old competitive diving skills to get affordable use fighting this big-ass shark. The next occasion, though, we’re gonna require an even bigger shark for Statham to stab. Why not consider one how big is Rhode Island?

Additional Thoughts:

–The Meg?is a co-production involving the U.S. and China, and it bears a great deal of similarities into the last U.S./China blockbuster I saw,?Skyscraper.?Both movies are regarding a disgraced American hero who?created a fatal mistake at work years earlier after which turns into a shot at redemption by?accepting an assignment?in China, where?they reassert?their mettle by saving?or their loved ones from bad guys (or sharks, whatever). Maybe it’s a coincidence. However it’s something Soon we will be keeping track of going forward?in other internationally co-produced action films.

-The movie’s closing title card gets an A+.

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