When it begins, it's hard to tell what 'The Meg' is trying to be. At first, it feels like a straight up strap-yourself-in action thriller... Before it veers off in a somewhat unexpected direction, much like its titular character.
It soon becomes clearer albeit only slightly that the film doesn't feel like it takes itself completely seriously. There are more cliché one-liners packed into this 1h 52m thing than seemingly possible and you could make a drinking game out of how many times Jason Statham dramatically stares into the distance.
Do these elements leave a bad taste and result in a crappy moviegoing experience, though?
No.
There are some great sequences throughout the film including those classic aerial shots of beachgoers blithely unaware of a massive monster swimming beneath them and the good old dorsal-fin-above-water scenes.
'The Meg' is an enjoyable watch. The clichés and melodrama eventually feel on purpose (or at least, we hope they are) so it's fun to experience the high-action, on-edge moments followed by the comedic banter between cast members. Dead serious action flicks are great too, but 'The Meg' successfully blends decent special effects and an adequately terrifying central character with genuinely wacky dialogue and plot points.
Some of the predicaments that the cast get themselves into are rather laughable. Again though, this is a shark movie about a live creature that was thought to have been extinct for millions of years. Suspension of disbelief is required here, folks.
The cast in 'The Meg' all lend their skills to the final product well. Jason Statham – as previously mentioned – is the rebellious and completely melodramatic hero supported by Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, Cliff Curtis, Shuya Sophia Cai and our own Ruby Rose and Jessica McNamee among others.
If you are going into the film expecting Oscar-worthy feature length gritty action with gruesome deaths and shocking twists and turns, you'll have some trouble adjusting to what 'The Meg' presents. Suspend that disbelief, relax, gear up for cliché heaven and you'll walk out feeling sufficiently satisfied.
★★★★☆
