“Well, I’m in trouble”

Jason Statham vs. giant shark - How’s that for a movie pitch. Ridiculous, but could be fun. And it was enjoyable, especially the last 20 minutes. Which shouldn’t be surprising the film swept at the box office and lives up to the concept of Statham fighting a 2.6 million year old, thought to be extinct shark. Just don’t be surprised if this becomes a meme in a few years.

The movie literally ends with a Thai version of ‘’Hey Mickey you’re so fine’.

Still, ‘The Meg’ was a lot of fun. Is it going to change cinema forever or give you a unique experience? Not really. It’s one of the dumbest movies of 2018, and yet, you can find some enjoyment out of it. You can even laugh at the corny scenes which was meant to be taken seriously. However, if I have to critique, I will gladly do so.

This movie lacks balance in tone and knowing what it’s trying to be. There’s horror elements when the Megalodon attacks. There’s comedic elements that stops it from being gloomy. There’s dumb popcorn fluff to keep things vibrant. And there’s suspense when the shark is near. All tones mashed together with uneven results. I didn’t find any of the humor that funny and the only time I chuckled was something unintentional.

The amount of charm Statham brings to the character already makes his presence likable. Too bad they didn’t give him any memorable one liners. You could pick out lines like “Chomp on this you ugly bastard.”, or “My god, it’s a Megalodon” - those are alright, although nothing will top “Smile you son of a b-”.

Every time there’s a death scene or somebody is going to die, it’s telegraphed and obvious. Supporting characters with very little screen time - They goners. Also, I’ve haven’t seen Masi Oka in anything for awhile and I was surprised to see him here. Loved him in ‘Heroes’. Man, they did him wrong here.

The CGI is OK, some of the acting wasn’t that good, and the overall experience feels like a water down blood-fest.

Jon Turteltaub (the director) openly said the original cut was brutal and "Horrifying, Disgusting". In interviews, Turteltaub expressed his disappointment that we won’t see this cut in cinemas. Which makes me wonder what the original cut was like, not just in violence, but how terrifying it might be. Will it add anything? Who knows. Could have taken an enjoyable dumb film into a bloody good time. Perhaps this generations “Deep Blue Sea”.

Overall Rating: Fin