The Meg
Directed by: Jon Turteltaub
Written by: Dean Georgaris and Jon Hoeber & Erich Hoeber - Based on the novel "Meg" by Steve Allen
Starring: Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose, Cliff Curtis, Winston Chao, Shuya Sophia Cai, Page Kennedy, Robert Taylor, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Jessica McNamee, Masi Oka
Action/Horror/Sci-Fi - 113 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 8 Aug 2018
Written by: Dean Georgaris and Jon Hoeber & Erich Hoeber - Based on the novel "Meg" by Steve Allen
Starring: Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose, Cliff Curtis, Winston Chao, Shuya Sophia Cai, Page Kennedy, Robert Taylor, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Jessica McNamee, Masi Oka
Action/Horror/Sci-Fi - 113 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 8 Aug 2018
Audiences love shark movies. Yes, we’ve been taught sharks are not as bloodthirsty and murderous in real life as they are portrayed on screen, but there is something about the idea that we don’t really know what is hanging out beneath us in the ocean. The fear of the unknown is a powerful instrument in horror films featuring monsters. Jaws, from the mid-70s with its antiquated shark model, remains the pinnacle of shark films. Imitators throughout the decades either intentionally or accidentally fall into campy imitations attempting to scare movie-goers with this reality - there are many situations in nature where we are not the top of the food chain.
The Great White Shark, our world’s most feared ocean hunter, has ruled our consciences for decades - go ahead and admit you think about Jaws every now and again when you’re wading in the ocean. Well, Jon Turteltaub is over the Great White. He believes bigger is better. While most whale species are larger than Great Whites, they do not spur instinctive fear. But, there was one guy out there from way back in the day who made Great Whites look like tadpoles - the megalodon. Megalodons are no more, despite what the Discovery Channel would have you believe. But what if? As most horror films are based on ‘what if’ scenarios, Turteltaub has an intriguing idea to explore. What if there was a megalodon still out there just waiting to be unleashed?
The Great White Shark, our world’s most feared ocean hunter, has ruled our consciences for decades - go ahead and admit you think about Jaws every now and again when you’re wading in the ocean. Well, Jon Turteltaub is over the Great White. He believes bigger is better. While most whale species are larger than Great Whites, they do not spur instinctive fear. But, there was one guy out there from way back in the day who made Great Whites look like tadpoles - the megalodon. Megalodons are no more, despite what the Discovery Channel would have you believe. But what if? As most horror films are based on ‘what if’ scenarios, Turteltaub has an intriguing idea to explore. What if there was a megalodon still out there just waiting to be unleashed?
The Meg employs the tried and true Jurassic Park warning that just because we can do something does not immediately mean we should. Humans and dinosaurs were never meant to exist at the same time. Mother Nature, while slow and steady, has her reasons for creating particular status quos. If she puts in place a layer of permafrost at the bottom of an ocean trench, perhaps we should run a pro and con checklist before we send advanced submersibles poking through to find out what’s there. What’s there turns out to be a prehistoric shark separated by nature for millions of years. The first wave of intrepid explorers do not last long in the foreign landscape before they are stranded and require the rescue efforts of the only man on Earth capable of saving them.
But you can’t mean him?! The man is a drunk! Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham, The Fate of the Furious) had a run with ‘something’ a few years ago. Labelled crazy, but knowing full well what he experienced, Jonas exiled himself Rambo-style to Thailand and somehow maintains peak physical condition while chain-drinking beer. Adamant he will never dive again and go back down there, Jonas morphs into all business mode when wouldn’t you know it, it’s his ex-wife marooned on the trench floor. Even with years to slacken off and not keep his perishable skills sharp, Jonas swoops in to save the day, but at the same time, releases a beast from its prison ready to feast on the buffet that is the western Pacific Ocean.
The megalodon, let’s call her Meg, is impressive - every now and again. Spielberg taught us it is scarier not to see the shark. He terrified us when an unseen ‘thing’ tugged at and tore a girl to pieces at the beginning of Jaws. When the shark finally leapt up onto the boat in the climax, it was action time, not scaring time. Turtelbaub plays hide the shark for a few scenes. When the camera is in the water, it reminds us we are in a 360 degree environment. The shark could come from any angle, at any time. Turteltaub plays with us by bobbing the camera above the waterline for a second or two and then below. To create suspense and dread knowing something is down there and most likely on its way to separate a body into multiple pieces, this up and down camera maneuver is most effective.
Yet, there is something wrong with this CGI shark. Its size appears to change depending on how big it needs to be for a scene. The first time we glimpse it, it is in a shadowy, unfamiliar environment. Meg looks somewhat smaller. Later on, as Turteltaub plays his second favorite game, put Jason Statham in the water one-on-one with the shark, Meg has grown larger. Jonas knows a creature like Meg cannot be allowed to roam free. He turns from save mode into kill mode spurring only a brief, go-nowhere argument between scientists and financiers about “We must kill the shark!” “No, I think we should try and study the shark instead!” There are themes to explore here, but no time. Turteltaub needs to get Jonas back in the water with a only a harpoon and a bucket of pluck to confront the fish again.
The Meg sports its fair share of stock characters like the brainy, but ultimately regretful scientists, the goth tech girl/hacker with an attitude, the black guy who thinks all these people who want to dive into the water chasing a dinosaur fish are crazy, and the billionaire who wants to find the best way to make money off the megalodon; think theme parks and a petting zoo. There is some father/daughter melodrama, a new love interest for Jonas to make puns with - everything a generic screenplay needs to get a movie off the ground. But we’re here for the shark and more specifically, shark on human violence. We want to see people, usually minor characters who don’t need to be around anymore, suddenly chomped into chum. However, with the inconsistency of what meg looks like and ham-handed ways the script gets Statham into personal hero mode, The Meg channels a slick SyFy channel vibe. It’s not a Sharknado, and it’s not God-awful Jaws: The Revenge, but 1999’s Deep Blue Sea gives it a run for its money.
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