The Meg

A billionaire has built a large research station near the Mariana Trench, to test a scientists theory, that it’s much deeper than first thought. A research team descends through a hydrogen sulfide barrier, and discover a lost aquatic world. But almost as soon as they arrive, they are attacked by something. So the research team above request the help of a deep sea rescue diver, who has been out of the profession for many years, claiming that a monster destroyed a nuclear submarine, that he tried to evacuate five years earlier!

Released in 2018, and directed by Jon Turteltaub; The Meg is a science fiction action film, loosely based on the novel Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Alten. The film stars Jason Statham, Bingbing Li, Cliff Curtis, and Shuya Sophia Cai, with Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose, Winston Chao, Page Kennedy, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Robert Taylor, Masi Oka, and Jessica McNamee in supporting roles. It’s actually not the first film to ever feature the Megalodon, as it was first featured in a 2002 made-for-tv movie simply called Megalodon. It was also featured in Shark Attack 3: Megalodon, and made a pretty cool appearance in a special episode of Walking With Dinosaurs also.

In 1975, Steven Spielberg directed what is widely celebrated to be one of the greatest movies ever made in Jaws. Since then Sharks have always had a place on the big screen, although not all have experienced the same heights as Jaws. Many shark films since Jaws have turned out to be pretty bad, and with the dawn of CGI in the 1990’s, the quality of the effects have caused Shark Movies to take a steady dive to the bottom of the oceans. For a long time, it felt like the last genuinley good one was Deep Blue Sea released in 1999. Since then Shark films have largely been relegated to either the straight-to-DVD market, or made-for-TV-movies. This has resulted in some incredibly weird projects, like Mega Shark Vs Giant Octopus, and of course; Sharknado.

The Meg was something of an enigma however, as it was a big budget shark movie, with CGI effects (which have been one of the biggest issues with Shark Movies since the 1990’s in my oppinion), but instead of being absolute trash, was actually really good. Make no mistake, The Meg is a very silly film. It’s a silly idea, and it’s execution is pretty silly too. But at no point does the film try to hide it’s silliness, as it chooses to embrace it instead.

It takes the idea of a giant shark like Megalodon, to create something that’s a mix between a disaster movie, and a monster movie. It embraces the possibilities these two things can allow to create a natural disaster thriller, in the same vein as many of the classic disaster movies of the 2000’s. But what is quite unique about it, is that it also features a lot of other things too.

Whilst comedy and action largely take up every other scene, between the lines there’s a real sense of drama as characters deal with past issues, and try to move on from their deep regrets. Firstly you have Jonas (Statham), who had previously encountered the creature, but no-one wanted to listen, and instead blamed him for the loss of lives. So now, he has to deal with and meet the people who were so horrible to him, and help them, even if they don’t deserve it. But he does it with a smile on his face as he just wants to move on. But throughout the film, there’s the essence of him trying to come to terms with the demons in his past.

There’s also this lack of trust between characters building up, as they don’t want to accept Jonas’s help, nor do they find it easy to accept the situation, despite what their eyes tell them. This in turn leads to the death’s of several characters, which makes the situation a lot more realistic to the audiences perspective, as instead of just moving on, the characters really feel the loss.

But it’s not all doom and gloom however, because the film also tells the brewing love story between Jonas and Suyin (Bingbing); which is frequently helped along by Suyin’s daughter Meiying (Cai). It’s a pretty light approach to romance, particularly in an action film like this, given that the two never curl up, cuddle, or even kiss, they just come together in a more child friendly like fashion, but that does make it quite a sweet realtionship build-up, as it features some awkward moments, as well as moments of relief intertwined.

The Meg is quite clever in it’s approach to how the shark is introduced, and how it is ued throughout, as it chooses to play with the audience, through the power of suggestion. You don’t actually see it, until after the Giant Squid. But once it has arrived, it doesn’t hold back, allowing for some sinister scenes, as well as some surprises, such as the almost blatant Lake Placid surprise reveal half-way through. The ending is also quite clever, as it chooses to suggest an explosive finale, but does something much different instead, therefore choosing to distance itself from the Jaws’ films tendency of just blowing up the shark.

The Meg is a really quirky film. It’s silly in it’s approach, but it takes this approach on purpose, as it means the comedy on show feels more natural, than awkwardly placed. There’s also a lot of high octane edge of your seat action pieces, as Staham and Binbing find new ways for Shark Movies to end rather than through explosions. But hidden behind this dual smokescreen, is a well placed drama featuring intense personal loss, mental recovery, and one of the sweetest kindlings of romance of any film I have ever seen (which the sequel chooses to squander, than develop further)!