When I first saw the trailer for The Meg, I thought one of two things would happen if I saw this movie. One, I would be scared out of my mind or two, I’d be laughing like crazy because of the ridiculous material. It promised to be a semi-interesting film at any rate, as it featured the oft-visited science fiction scenario of a prehistoric Megalodon wreaking havoc in the modern world. Well, having returned from seeing The Meg, I wish I could say the film did one or the other, or was even a combination of both.
But I can’t.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some good elements to The Meg. There are some gorgeous underwater scenes showing life in the Mariana Trench and a shot of a shark cage appearing very small in the vast ocean. Actually, the film even starts with a semi-plausible scenario that sets up how a Megalodon could have survived all these years in the modern ocean. And in terms of the cast, Jason Statham does an admirable job with the material he’s given. In fact, the show is almost completely stolen by child actor Shuya Sophia Cai. However, despite these good qualities, I can’t overlook the messier aspects of the story.
The big problem with The Meg is, it doesn’t seem to know what sort of film it should be. At times it feels like a dark comedy, with any tension relieved by humorous quips (including a Finding Nemo reference). And yet there are also moments where it seems the filmmakers were trying to emulate the terror of Jaws or the scarier aspects of Deep Blue Sea (which might not be the best example but I got strong reminders of that film in particular). If the film had just committed one way or another, The Meg would have been a comfortably enjoyable B-film. Unfortunately it just didn’t work out that way.
And those are my thoughts on The Meg. What do you think of this film? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and have a great day!
See also:
Become a Patron of the blog at patreon.com/musicgamer460
Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)
Don’t forget to like Film Music Central on Facebook 🙂
Film Music Central 
Completely agree. Too busy trying to be two things at once to settle into being a completely entertaining movie. Not a complete failure, since certain moments work fine enough, but it’s the kind of movie you use a MoviePass to see. Otherwise, don’t waste your money.
LikeLiked by 1 person