Rated: M
Directed by: John Turteaitub
Produced by: Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Belle Avery and Colin Wilson
Written by: Dean Georgaris and Jon Hoeber & Erich Hoeber
Based on: MEG, the bestselling novel by by Steve Alten
Starring: Jason Statham, Li Bingbing.
The depths of the ocean. Unexplored. Unknown. Unconquered. Sound familiar?
I must confess that the scifi premise, used many times before in better and/or smaller productions such as Jaws (1975) or Piranha (1978), intrigue me. While the cast of Jason Statham made me lower my expectations to rock bottom.
>A deep-sea submersible—part of Mana One, an international undersea observation program off the coast of China—has been attacked by a massive creature and now lies disabled at the bottom of the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean… with its crew trapped inside.
In the film, Statham plays Jonas Taylor, an undersea rescue diver who was the best of the best before a terrifying brush with a massive creature powerful enough to crush the hull of a nuclear submarine. The traumatic attack took the lives of two friends and put Jonas into voluntary drydock. When Megalodon emerges once again and threatens the lives of Mana One’s crew, Jonas becomes their last and only hope.
I love a big monster movie just like anybody else but I hate when a trailer plays with my feelings as a viewer, teasing a bigger version of the classic Jaws and delivering what’s nothing more than a louder film.
The irresistible combination of over-the-top special effects and a great soundtrack is not enough to scratch the surface of the story. Half way through the film I became more concerned about the fate of the gorgeous little Yorkshire Terrier paddling around the Megalodon than of the weak romance orchestrated between Jason Statham and award winning Chinese actress Li Bingbing.
If there is anything to be afraid of, is that The Meg has become one of the year’s few Hollywood surprise stories, making $45 million in one of the highest debuts of the year. Meaning that more such a films may well be on their way to feast from the box office once again.