Aug 10 2018

The Meg

A group of marine biologists and aquatic scientists find themselves in a precarious situation when an expedition to the deepest part of the ocean accidentally also releases a prehistoric Megalodon shark, the Meg, into the waters of the Pacific. Originally thought to be extinct and now filled with the pent up rage of thousands of years the Meg appears to have one goal in mind, eat anything and everything in the sea. It’s now up to international badass and deep sea expert Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) to lead a team of unlikely characters to save the day; but, billionaire and investor, Morris (Rainn Wilson) may have other plans yet. What will ultimately be the fate of humanity and the fate of the Meg? Written by Dean Georgaris, Jon Hoeber, and Erich Hoeber and Directed by Jon Turteltaub, this ridiculous romp of a shark monster movie truly is as corny as it sounds, rich with cliche characters, horribly awesome dialogue, preposterous situations, and fantastically telegraphed punches. And yet, the film still manages to conjure a few screams, a few flinches, and sure even a few laughs, because seriously, what were you expecting, the Citizen Kane of Shark films? Statham stays true to form, goes topless AND punches a shark in the eye, which is to say, he earns his paycheck, er…sort of? But, talk about earning one’s keep, cinematographer Tom Stern does a bang up job capturing the glory and the majesty of this otherwise low set bar. Truly a film that belongs in the pulpy rental category for the winter; in the meantime, keep your expectations in check and you’ll do just fine with this quickly forgettable barrel scraper. The Meg is rated PG-13.