The Meg (2018) Review

"Don't you guys ever watch Star Week?"

-Jack Morris

A group of scientists take a submarine down to the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana Trench, but discover that what they thought was the bottom isn't.  There is a whole other ecosystem that has been trapped deep underwater.  The scientists get trapped down there and deep sea rescue diver, Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) is brought in to rescue them.  In the process, they accidentally allow the largest shark in history, the megalodon, long thought to be extinct, free.  As the meg starts to attack and eat anything it comes across, Jonas and the scientists have to ban together to stop the shark.

What Works:

The Meg is a big, dumb, action movie and that's it.  But it doesn't pretend to be anything else.  It's very similar to the Fast & Furious movies.  It's just big, dumb fun.  And The Meg succeeds at that.  It's really silly, but it doesn't take itself seriously.  And you know what?  I had fun watching it.

The shark attack sequences themselves are genuinely thrilling.  And apart from Jason Statham and Li Bingbing, the characters feel like they could die at anytime.  The sequences are exciting and entertaining and that's what you want out of this kind of movie, right?

Jason Statham does a totally fine job as our protagonist.  He's likable and funny, probably didn't have to act very much while making this film, but he's exactly what you'd want as your lead in a movie like this.  And there are a few other characters who are pretty likable as well.  Cliff Curtis doesn't get a ton to do, but he is very funny when he gets the chance.  Shuya Sophie Can plays Li's daughter and she's actually pretty adorable and not at all annoying.  She's really smart, but not to the point of irritating.  Plus the scene where she is trying to hook Jason Statham up with her mom may be the funniest part of the movie.  As far as child actors go, Shuya does a great job.

What Sucks:

Most of the characters in this movie are pretty forgettable.  After a scene where everyone gets knocked off their boat, they have to help each other climb back aboard, and there were a few I had forgotten were in the movie.  All of the characters are pretty one-dimensional and not very interesting.  And not nearly enough of them were eaten by the Meg to make this lack of development acceptable.

A lot of the humor doesn't work.  The jokes come too easy and feel very fake and lowest common denominator.  I get that that's typically the kind of humor you find in a movie like this, but I don't have to like it.  Worst of all is Page Kennedy's character, DJ, who is fine for the first half of the movie, but after he sees the shark for the first time, he will not shut up.  It gets pretty grating after awhile and the joke about him not being able to swim was irritating.

Finally, the movie has a scene early on with an extremely dumb decision.  The manned sub of people going below the Mariana Trench for the first time was so stupid.  Why not send a probe first?  Some sort of unmanned craft?  I know those exist!  Why risk three lives in this manner.  It was extremely foolish and a great way to get sued.

Verdict:

The Meg is a big, dumb, summer movie and it doesn't pretend to be anything else.  The lead characters are likable enough and the shark sequences are really fun.  The side characters range from uninteresting to annoying, a lot of the humor falls flat, and the 1st act has one extremely questionable decision that pissed me off, but all in all, The Meg delivers on what it promises and it is a fun movie.

 7/10: Good