Review by CJ

Director:
Jon Turteltaub

Starring:
Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson

Other notable appearances:
Masi Oka, Cliff Curtis, Ruby Rose, Page Kennedy, Winston Chao, Robert Taylor, Jessica McNamee

Running time:
113 minutes

Watch this if you liked:
Deep Blue Sea, Jaws, Jurassic Park

Five years after a mission where two of his men died, deep sea rescuer Jonas Taylor (Statham) is a shell of his former self and filling the void with beer. He is snatched out of retirement when his ex-wife and her crew become trapped at the bottom of the Mariana Trench in an exploratory submersible. The crew are not alone though and saving them releases an ancient creature with an insatiable appetite.

The Meg is by far one of the best mainstream monster movies I have seen at the cinema in years. It brings together a great cast, hilarious dialogue, genuine jump scares, well put together characters and an exciting plot. It is so well put together in every other way that you can easily forgive the shaky science (which is still not the most ridiculous movie science I’ve heard).

Jason Statham is in his element as a complete badass who takes on a giant, prehistoric creature against all odds. With all due respect to other favourite action stars, no-one else could have pulled this role off as well as Statham has. 

The humour in The Meg reminds me a lot of Jurassic Park. People who were just working on their science unleash something terrifying and work their butts off to fix it while keeping their spirits up with jokes and poking fun at each other. The moral of the stories are that a positive attitude is important when you’re facing off against big, prehistoric monsters with lots of teeth.

The Meg does a fantastic job of returning the giant shark genre to the big screen while balancing action, humour and suspense with an exciting plot and fun characters. A must see for anyone looking for a fun popcorn blockbuster that will have you thinking twice about going back into the water … again.

Rating:

“Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…”