Movie review: ‘The Meg’

FloridaGator80
A promotional photograph from the movie “The Meg.”

One could hope that, with investors and production companies from China being financially responsible for many currents films, some of these folks would learn from the past and not make the same kind of bad films made so often by Tinseltown. Not so. With no lessons learned from the past, bad is still the norm in Hollywood even with the backing of Chinese investors. “The Meg” is a great example of a tremendously flawed film that has an idea or two of greatness, but immediately falls victim of all the pitfalls of copycat filmmaking that have been inflicted on audiences many, many times before. Since the production is billed as American-Chinese, moviegoers might have expected something different. Ah well, it’s just not to be. “The Meg” is somewhat worth watching, but it is a simply terrible flick with only a few sparks of anything that could be construed as acting and the copying of the iconic “Jaws” just makes this one reek like fish left on a dock. Or, if you will and, pun intended, a fish out of water.

‘The Meg’
(2018; 113 minutes; rated PG-13; directed by Jon Turtletaub and starring Jason Statham, Li Bingbing and Cliff Curtis)

A BAD SHARK FLICK WITH RIP-OFFS FROM ‘JAWS’

(NOTE: I updated this review with final film totals for 2018 on March 6, 2021 – sorry about the delay! I expanded the review with additional opinion and trivia and the updating of links on June 14, 2026.)

I ranked director Jon Turtletaub’s romantic comedy “While You Were Sleeping” with Sandra Bullock (click here to read my review) as superior. However, his pathetic effort with “The Meg” shows why some directors should stick with what they have had success with and not try their hand in a genre for which they are obviously ill-equipped to handle or not to come under the influence of others’ dollars.

I have no other way to describe “The Meg”:” It is a bad film that is a cinema felony, since it sports an actually creative story line – one where scientists are probing the deepest depths of the Pacific ocean for a new level of discovery. After the basic concept, you get all the horrid stereotypes: A down-and-out hero-to-be; technology/computer geeks one who is Asian and the other obese; a beautiful woman in command of a sub and whom needs to be rescued; and your garden-variety, fumbling and bumbling American billionaire who, no surprise here, isn’t just an idiot but a scheming one as well.

A promotional photograph from the movie “The Meg.”

Oh, and by the way, the least surprising of all, it’s a shark movie that rips off “Jaws” in all the worst ways.

Sigh.

A bigger sigh: There was a “sequel” (note the quote marks”) called “Meg 2: The Trench” and it’s a film where Turtletaub had the intelligence to avoid making the same mistake of deciding to work on the original.

Back to the original “sigh” …

A promotional photograph from the movie “The Meg.”

Worse yet with “The Meg,” filmmakers chose a talentless actor (Rainn Wilson of TV’s “The Office” fame) for one of the bigger roles, but to their credit did a great job casting the Asian characters. I was impressed by the work of Bingbing Li – billed as Li Bingbing in the film’s credits – as well as a surprisingly neat turn by child actor Shuya Sophia Cai, who was billed in the credits as Sophia Cai, and her solid turn was surprising since kid actors in these kind of films usually stink along with adult actors who should have known better.

A promotional photograph from the movie “The Meg.”

Basically, here goes the story …

A scientist has deduced that a thermal layer at the bottom of the deepest part of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean hides an underworld of never-seen before creatures. The scientist’s team using a deep-submersible penetrates the layer and … ta dah! It encounters a prehistoric shark bigger than a killer whale (actually, it eats whales): The Megalodon, or, to friends, “The Meg.” The sub is crippled in an attack by the Meg and now a rescue mission is needed.

Of course, the hero of this all had encountered the Meg years ago and lost a bunch of people, wasn’t believed when he told the story and now is washed up and drinking constantly in nearby Thailand. Of course, he is forced to come to the rescue because it’s his former wife down in the sub.

The rescue is dramatic, but it releases the Meg from the ocean floor. That’s when all the “Jaws” scenes come into play – the Meg eating folks; the Meg’s big fin cutting the surface of the ocean; and a shark swamping the boat sent out to hunt it down. Well, there’s a twist in there that you’ll see coming a mile away, but I’ll not spoil it for you.

What I will spoil for you is that there are a variety of doomed characters here (you’ll spot them easily and know exactly when they’ll meet their end) and that everything turns out good in the end except for those consumed by the Meg.

Again. Ta dah!

Since I’m forced at this point to take a look at the cast, here we go …

  • Jason Statham plays “Jonas Taylor,” who comes to everyone’s rescue at some point. Statham is the only actor with a role with enough to work with and shows why he’s top-billed here. Statham’s best move is “the look” and he gives it to everyone at some point. Obviously, this is no Oscar winner for him (or anyone else), but he’s watchable and that’s about all you can say. Statham has been in the “Transporter” and “Fast and Furious” franchises and I liked him in the remake of “The Italian Job” (click here to read my review) and you can look in the film notes at the end of this review about Statham and remakes. I also enjoyed his work in both “The Beekeeper” (click here to read my review) as well as in “Spy” (click here to read my review), but I disliked the reboot of “The Mechanic” (click here to read my review) despite his watchability in it.
  • A photograph from the movie “The Meg.”

    As I already noted, Bingbing Li as “Suyin” does solid work here. She’s not given as much to work with as headliner Statham, but she manages to turn out an effort that doesn’t make you cringe (and in this one, that’s notable) despite having to deal with crying over one character’s death in a most stereotypical death scene. Li Bingbing has been in the “Transformers” and “Resident Evil” franchises and I’d say you’ll be seeing more of her in the future.

  • Winson Chao plays “Dr. Minway Zhang” (don’t you love how academics enjoy being called “doctor” as if they are an MD?) and he’s the brains behind the whole operation. Chao, like Bingbing, is solid here, but doesn’t do quite the job she does. He has one of the bigger supporting roles but doesn’t really grasp the opportunity to elevate the character. Chao has been in “The Wedding Banquet” and “1911” with Jackie Chan.
  • The quietly competent work in “The Meg” is by Cliff Curtis, who plays “James ‘Mac’ Mackreides,” a key member of the exploration team. Curtis is good as his character is the organizer when things inevitably go south and he shows aplomb in being a supporting actor who knows how to support. Curtis is evolving into the actor that seems like he’s in everything. I liked him better in “Runaway Jury” with John Cusack (click here to read my review) and he has been in “Training Day,” “Whale Rider” and TV’s “Fear the Walking Dead.”
  • A promotional photograph from the movie “The Meg.”

    I’ve already noted that the effort by Cai as “Meiying Zhang” is really nice by a child actor. Such parts are completely formulaic, but Cai manages to convey her role without making you cringe – and that’s high praise for the big screen. The girl is the film daughter of Li Bingbing and granddaughter of Chao and is now billed in credits as Shuya Sophie Cai. “The Meg” is her second acting credit after “Somewhere Only We Know.” Cai was also in the regrettable sequel “Meg 2: The Trench.”

There is a passel of supporting actors who flesh out “The Meg” (no pun intended) for both audience and shark, but not all die. They include Ruby Rose as “Jaxx Herd,” Page Kennedy as “DJ,” Jessica McNamee as Statham’s former wife “Lori” and Masi Oka as the first doomed character “Toshi.” I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of Rose and Oka, but the rest, including Robert Taylor as “Dr. Heller,” just take up time in the film.

Finally, on the acting front, it’s an understatement to write that I was disappointed when I saw that Wilson has such a big part in “The Meg.” He’s talentless and, no pun intended, is quite the fish out of water here. At first, you believe his character, billionaire “Jack Morris,” is the usual bumbling white guy that is the Hollywood stereotypical fool, but it turns out to be more calculating than you get from a first impression. In any case, Wilson doesn’t handle the part well and he’s also been in … ah, who cares? I don’t.

A promotional photograph from the movie “The Meg.”

Overall, the film’s production values are TV-like and here was a late summer movie that doesn’t deserve the amount box office that it reaped. However, if you don’t mind seeing yet another cinematic uninspired, somewhat copycat flick that’s not destined for Oscar greatness, then “The Meg” is for you.

One more thing: “The Meg” is an example of how horror/sci-fi/action films from back-in-the-day have strayed from being solid in most categories with an emphasis on acting. Just take “Jaws” as just the best example: The interplay of Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw are impeccable compared to the mindless crap you see in “The Meg.”

As the 2018 movie year was closing out as I wrote the original review, “The Meg” is ranked 15th with $143 million at U.S. theaters, according to Box Office Mojo. “Black Panther” remains No. 1 with $700 million and not far behind at No. 2 is “Avengers: Infinity War” with $678.8 million. I’ll update this review when final totals from the year are completed. UPDATE: “The Meg” finished 21st with $145.4 million at the U.S. box office, according to Box Office Mojo. Not bad for a terribly crappy film. Here are the other films from 2018 that I’ve reviewed:

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Wilson’s middle name is Dietrich and he is a native of Seattle; Curtis was born in Rotorua, New Zealand; and Chao’s birth name is Wen-hsuan Chao and he was born on Taiwan.
  • Statham has become somewhat of an icon as the star of remade films that never needed remaking. While I like Statham, he managed never to elevate any of these crappy “reboots.” They include “The Mechanic,” an intelligent, wonderful original with Charles Bronson; and “Death Race,” originally a 1975 film called “Death Race 2000” starring David Carradine.
  • Disney originally bought the rights to novel on which “The Meg” is based. It paid $1 million for those rights, but it dropped the project because it didn’t want to compete with “Deep Blue Sea,” another shark film. The project was then “turned around,” in Hollywood language, until coming out as you see it today.
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “In real life, Jason Statham is an expert swimmer. In the 1990 Commonwealth Games, he represented England in diving. Footage of him competing can be found online. Most of the shots of him in the water are real. A stunt double was used for more hazardous shots.”
  • One of the humpback whales is named “Gracie.” I’d imagine that this is a homage to the whale at the center of the plot of “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” from 1986.
  • Ouch! The film was once identified as a George Clooney “project.” Talk about a fish out of water!
  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “The young boy on Sanya Beach who begs his mother to be allowed to go swimming is an homage to Alex Kintner, the second victim in the first Jaws (1975) movie. His mother is wearing a similar swimsuit to the one Alex’s mother wore in the original film.”

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