The Movie: The Meg
The Director: Jon Turteltaub
The Cast: Jason Statham, Bingbing Li, Rainn Wilson, Cliff Curtis, Winston Chao, Shuya Sophia Cai, Ruby Rose, Page Kennedy, Robert Taylor, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Jessica McNamee, Masi Oka
The Story: Jason Statham and Bingbing Li fight a giant shark.
The Review:
The Meg is a fun action movie that checks all the boxes for summer season success at the box office. Is it the terrifying brilliance of Jaws? Nope. Is it the gratuitously hilarious fun of Piranha 3D? Nope. Is it going to please critics who will tell you they are better than this while they sit down to watch it? Nope. Was I entertained? Absolutely. The story is just coherent enough to justify its own existence while not getting heavy handed with the dialog and exposition. Turteltaub knows the audience wants to see Jason Statham and company fight a gigantic shark so that's what he gives them.
The cast and the locations used in the film are hand picked for a global audience with an emphasis on winning over the Chinese box office. Sure, Statham is the big name globally but Bingbing Li and Winston Chao were brought in specifically to conquer China and it will most likely work. Chao has been on Chinese TV forever and Li is about as big of a star as you'll find in China right now. I also need to mention how great it was to see the extremely likable Masi Oka (Hiro from Heroes) on the big screen. I will also mention that Rainn Wilson gives a pretty awful performance in a movie where you're not looking for much from any of the performances.
The digital artists involved with creating the Megalodon did a great job all the way around and there were only a couple moments that looked overly cheesy. Overall they do a great job of putting moments on screen that are tailor made for the big screen and, during my screening, got some really great audience reactions. The stuff that takes place towards the end of the film at Sanya Bay on China's Hainan Island is a lot of fun, a little over the top and, other than some choppy editing, pretty much what you want to see.
The Verdict:
The Meg is a fun summer popcorn flick that you will enjoy if you don't think about it too much. That's all I got.
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