*dun dun* *dun dun dun dun* cue Jaws theme song.
So I’m sure everyone has watched Jaws in their lifetime. I mean, it’s a classic 1975 movie directed by the one and only Steven Spielberg. If you answered no, I don’t know what planet you’re from.
Jaws got all of us scared of sharks. I mean, I’m pretty sure most of us are scared of sharks but after watching Jaws, every time I go to the beach, I fear a shark would swim up to me and just bite off a good chunk of my leg, or just swallow me whole. If I had to choose, I’d rather be swallowed whole than to be bitten off slowly. No pain and immediate death.
Anyways, point is, Jaws has set the bar on shark movies and so far, nothing has topped that. Well, there’s Sharknado but I categorize that as comedy. If you have not heard of Sharknado, it’s a movie about sharks and tornados. So these sharks are killing people while traveling through tornados. Sounds stupid, isn’t it? Go watch it and have a good laugh.
The Meg was out in Malaysian cinemas just last week and I only managed to watch it recently. My first thought when I heard of the movie was, “Meg? Meg Ryan? Meghan Trainor? Megan Fox?” But lo and behold, it’s The MEGALODON.
The movie begins with Jason Statham rescuing a group of people that seem to be trapped in a submarine or some ship that goes deep in the ocean and he has to sacrifice two of his buddies just to save 11 people. The intro to this movie had me cringing already because it definitely screams B LIST MOVIE! So from the commotion of saving people, it seems like there was a creature that was attacking the ship, causing it to wreck.
The ancient prehistoric shark that is 20 to 25 meters long is then discovered and revealed when a team of three undersea marine specialists (to be honest, I have no clue what were their jobs) went deep into the deepest sea for some observation program. No surprise, their submarine is attacked. And by what? No prize for guessing correctly. Yes, THE MEG. So their submarine is wrecked and they are stuck there with only 18 hours left to survive until someone comes to rescue them.
So to cut the story short, Jonas Taylor, played by Jason Statham was called to help with the rescue mission. Jonas was all “No, I’m not going to help you. I’m still traumatized by the previous incident. Bla blah blah” and then he changed his mind because one of the three people trapped in the submarine is his ex-wife.
So they were all saved and that’s when the movie starts getting interesting. I don’t want to give out too much because you should watch this movie yourself. However, I’ll share enough to let you get a gist of the movie. It’s a shark movie, you can’t be expecting a big plot twist so you kind of already know what the storyline is like. Well, actually there is a plot twist, but you’ll have to find out for yourself.
So the Meg is supposed to be in the deep, blue undiscovered part of the sea due to water temperature and whatnot. However, because of the rescue expedition, it opened up a loophole for the Meg to be able to swim into the not so deep side of the sea.
So, there’s Suyin, played by Li Bing Bing, and her father Dr. Zhang who both lead this organization to discover the unknown creatures of the deep sea. This is however funded by an American billionaire, Jack Morris.
May I proceed to share my thoughts on the cast? Yes? Ok, thanks.
First up, Jason Statham, ok he’s considered an A-list actor right. But why is he taking up this role? I mean it’s not that bad of a role, but it’s just not too much action going on for him to show off his stunts. Li Bing Bing on the other hand, does anyone remember her? I recognize that face but I can’t remember where have I seen her before. All I remember is, I used to confuse her with Fan Bing Bing. You can tell the obvious reason why. Anyway, damn, the girl’s gotta share her beauty secrets because she is 43 years old looking like she’s in her early 30s! AND it took me the whole movie to finally realize that Jack Morris is played by Rainn Wilson. The Office, anyone? I had suspicions at first, then I doubted myself. And after I went home to Google the cast, I was shouting “I KNEW IT” to myself.
I’m not going to further elaborate on the movie because it’s just like any typical shark movie, where the shark gets mad, goes on an eating frenzy (anyone played Hungry Shark on their iPhone or iPad?) and people are trying to kill it.
The Meg manages to swim to the shallow waters and ended up in Sanya Bay, China where a ton of tourists are at the beach swimming and enjoying the summer. And what confuses me is number one, can a deep-sea shark who spent its entire life in the deep, unknown waters survive in a shallow sea water? What about the temperature? And number two, there was this part where the Meg just swims under the people and nobody notices this 25-meter long shark!?
So, conclusion, I don’t hate nor like the movie, I’m leaning toward neutral. The storyline was a little boring, there are a few moments of comic relief but not like a laugh-out-loud oh-my-tummy-hurts kind of funny. The cast of the movie is pretty good but a little out of place. However, I must give credit to the great graphics. It’s 1000 times better than Sharknado and there is a lot of on-screen time of the Meg. A little heads up, be prepared for lots of jump scares.
