The Meg (2018)

The Meg (2018)

Directed by Jon Turtletaub

Starring Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose, Winston Chao, Page Kennedy, Jessica McNamee, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Robert Taylor, Sophia Shuya Cai, Masi Oka, and Cliff Curtis

Whilst no shark film has ever been able to rival Jaws’ greatness, it has sparked a genre of B-movie style films which are dumb, silly and loads of fun. Jason Statham is Jonas Taylor, a deep sea rescue diver who’s called out of retirement when a 70 foot shark is discovered and starts eating everything in sight. Along with a scientific crew they’ll journey across the ocean to try and kill it.

The Meg is a stupid film, there’s no way to sugar coat that. It makes zero sense, it’s cheesy, full of plot holes and bad acting, but if you switch your brain off and just go with it, you’ll have a great time. Whereas so many films in this vain take themselves seriously, The Meg never does and that’s what makes it so much fun. Jason Statham embraces the absurdity and has some fun with a character that we’ve seen on screen thousands of times before. His chemistry with scientist Suyin (Li) is great and it’s nice to see a love interest who isn’t young enough to be the hero’s daughter for once. Rainn Wilson is on hand as an arrogant billionaire to do most of the comedy and his style works well.