The Meg (2018)

A group of scientists exploring the Marianas Trench encounter the largest marine predator that has ever existed - the Megalodon.

Jess' Review

I have wanted to watch The Meg for ages and with our new official movie review lockdown rules (trademark) in place, I finally had the chance to bypass my one obstacle, Sam. The power felt good. Doubly so knowing that he was going to hate this. Does that make me a bad person? Perhaps. But I put my shark-print pants on for this special occasion and got settled. 

The Meg is about Jason Statham and his science friends disturbing an enormous, prehistoric shark and ultimately having to find a way to kill it. Now, I love monster movies, I love shark movies and I love bad movies. And The Meg was fantastic on each level. Is it a good film? No. Not at all. But it is fun? Absolutely. 

The acting is overall quite rigid. Jason Statham is on-point as typical Jason Statham, our rough-around-the-edges, grumpy but ever-so witty hero. He’s great. The dialogue is corny, often hilarious and made even funnier by Sam’s running commentary. I laughed more than I should have, often at inappropriate moments, but found myself grinning along nevertheless.

The visual effects are decent. Our titular villain of the megalodon has enough realism in it’s design to be convincingly scary. But perhaps that’s a personal fear. I’m unashamed to say I’m freaked out by the deep sea, and I think this film had a lot of potential to use the ocean’s scariness to its advantage. Director Jon Turteltaub touches on this strategy earlier in the film, even managing to make me jump at one point but misses the mark. Attention shifts to the ensuing action and the tension is lost. 

There are plot holes and the film does seem to stretch on a little too long, predictable and cliche in its execution. However, it’s fun. I had a good time watching it and for me, that’s what counts. Sue me.  

6/10

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Sam's Review

Where to start...? The story has potential, but they squander it. It had the chance - a slim chance, but nevertheless - to become an aquatic Jurassic Park. We could have been introduced to various prehistoric forms of life. It could have linked in global warming, as our oceans continue to be harmed, while they're estimated to contribute between 50 to 85 percent of the worlds oxygen. Yet, it didn’t do any of this. It was a highly unrealistic version of Jaws.

At certain points, rather narcissistically, I wonder if the film has been made to personally irritate me. It’s bad. For example, and this actually happens, so, SPOILER, Jason Statham grabs a knife and jumps into the sea to fight a megalodon. Really? So this guy’s so tough that he’s going to have a fist fight with a gigantic shark?

The best actor was the megalodon. Seriously. It wasn’t the most innovative use of VFX, but a giant shark is pretty awesome. And it looks exactly how I’d imagine a murderous creature of the depth would. The rest of the acting was... decent, maybe. While this may produce a sequel, I feel like Statham could have done better with his choice of scripts.

There’s little saving grace. It’s a below average film, that isn’t done well. The story is predictable, the characters are one dimensional, and it’s not particularly visually striking. The dialogue is limited to a lot of tacky throwaway lines that I’m assuming the writers thought were either ‘cool’ or ‘witty’. They're neither. I wasn’t expecting much, and even so, I was underwhelmed.

3/10