As The Meg opens, we’re introduced to Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham), a deep-sea rescue expert, on a mission to save some people from a submarine. Something large and incredibly strong causes the death of two of his crew. Although Jonas rescues 11 people, his story gets him labeled as a kook and he loses his job, his wife, and his credibility.
Five years later, Jonas’ ex-wife, Lori (Jessica McNamee) and two other ocean researchers are exploring a trench off the Chinese coast. Something fitting the same description as Jonas’ creature attacks their small submarine and leaves them stranded on the ocean floor. Who else but Jonas is called in to save them?
The “creature,” of course, is a Megalodon, a once-thought extinct species of shark that — at 70 feet long — was the single biggest predator in the ocean. The submarine Jonas is tapped to rescue is part of a large research project financed by billionaire Morris (Rainn Wilson). In his employ are the conspicuously diverse crew of Jaxx (Ruby Rose), a tattooed, punk-looking tech genius; D.J. (Page Kennedy), a black man who works 200 miles off the coast of China but doesn’t know how to swim; Mac (Cliff Curtis), an Indian man who used to work with Jonas; and, most importantly, Zhang (Winston Chao) and his daughter, Suyin (Bingbing Li), the Chinese brains behind the research. (And, not so coincidentally, trying to appeal to the ever-growing Chinese box-office.)
Jonas, of course, must be convinced to return to a rescue mission, especially when it could mean he’ll face the megalodon again. The scene where Mac and Zhang try to coerce him into the mission is where director Jon Turteltaub and the scriptwriters tip their hand to let the audience know that The Meg is not going to approach this scenario with anything approaching gravitas.
And so begins a nearly two-hour thrill ride of CGI shark mayhem. With the comedic tone set early on, what could have been a smorgasbord of gore and scares turns into an action/adventure with a lot of near misses, impossibly close calls, and nearly blood-free shark encounters. (In fact, aside from a scene involving a whale carcass, there’s very little gore at all.)
None of the people involved in this fishy situation take anything seriously, aside from Suyin, who’s concern for her father and daughter provide the only real emotional scenes in the movie. Jason Statham cracks jokes and smiles effortlessly as his character faces imminent death on multiple occasions. Rainn Wilson’s character turns from affable cornball to villainous sleazeball on a dime. And a shoe-horned “romance” between Suyin and Jonas just doesn’t work on any level other than comedic.
But, honestly, I wasn’t expecting better from The Meg. It never approaches Sharknado levels of stupid but manages to be much more coherent than anything pumped out by The Asylum (Megashark vs. Giant Octopus, etc.) The CGI is pretty good most of the time. (A panorama of the underwater world where the Meg lives is jaw-droppingly beautiful.) The acting isn’t stellar but it’s serviceable. While the premise is ridiculous, the movie tries to back it up with a lot of science. It also makes a statement about the brutal practice of shark-finning that appears to be aimed directly at Chinese audiences.
All things considered, The Meg is corny, ridiculous end-of-summer fun.
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
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