The Meg

"After escaping an attack by what he claims was a 70-foot shark, Jonas Taylor must confront his fears to save those trapped in a sunken submersible" -IMDb

Title: THE MEG

Year: 2018 Directed By: Jon Turteltaub Written By: Dean Georgaris, Jon Hoeber, Eric Hoeber Duration: 1 hour 53 minutes Genre: Action, Thriller, Monster Movie Starring: Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, Ruby Rose, Rainn Wilson Language: English Score: 5/10

Originally, I don't want to watch this movie. But because this is the only popular one playing in cinemas that I haven't watched, I eventually did watch it. The Meg is somehow enjoyable but stays in that middle area where it's not good enough to be considered a great movie, but has a chance of falling to the bad-movie-area. 

WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT IT?

1. THE SUSPENSE AND JUMPSCARE

There is almost no shark movie without suspense and jumpscare. They're like the whole point of the movie. Thankfully this movie delivers them quite well. You will be surprised and shocked, just like the movie makers want you to be. The jumpscares aren't lame, they all make sense and fun to watch. And some of the suspense is entirely new to shark movies because the size of this movie's shark made it possible. 

2. JASON STATHAM SMILING

Jason Statham is known for his fierce face in action movies. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of that because I would love it better if he has other personalities in movies other than just being fierce and tough. The Meg includes a lot of scenes where he smiles and becomes softer than he usually is. I like this better than his other fierce characters because it makes more sense to me. The toughest guy can be sweet and soft too. 

3. THE TERRIFYING SHARK

Again, thankfully they don't screw this part up with weird CGI or cheap effects. The shark looks real enough to be terrifying. Some times it looks a bit weird, but it's not bothering at all. We all know it's created using visual effects, after all. So, still, praises to the visual effects team that made a fictional shark looks realistic to scare the audience. 

4. THE ACTION

The action comes together with the suspense and jumpscare. Even though the action is more on swimming, chasing, and running away under water using fancy submarines, they're enough to keep you interested. They're not lame or too much, but really, just sums up cool moves. At least they still make sense compared to other silly-but-cool action moves in other shark movies. 

WHAT'S NOT GOOD ABOUT IT?

1. THE LOVE STORY SUBPLOT

I really think this shouldn't be included. Even from the start, I can already tell it's too forced, like trying to do something that is just not meant to be. It doesn't fit with the whole story because it's too cheesy and underdeveloped. And it's clearly used to put more spotlight on the leading lady. They should've inserted other subplots than can support the main plot of the movie and make it even better. 

2. ALL THE CLICHES OF A SHARK MOVIE

Well, surely you've watched or heard of shark movies from the past. Even if you haven't, you must've known or guessed how they are. This movie includes all the cliches of shark movies. I won't say everything is predictable or a copy of other movies, but every scene that you watch reminds you of some other shark movies. It's like being recycled with better visual effects. This movie doesn't offer anything too different from its ancestors. The only thing that's entirely different is probably the shark, which is a pre-historic shark with an unimaginable huge size. 

3. THE CHARACTERS

Again, like the cliches. Everyone is there. The funny guy, the genius, the heroic main character, and so on, and so on. And also like usual monster movies, all the characters are one-dimensional. The funny guy is only there to tell jokes. The hero is only there to always look cool. The genius is only there to say smart stuffs (and maybe sometimes act like the coolest human being). They're just not very interesting and there's too many of them. Losing any of them wouldn't hurt your heart too much. 

WHAT'S SO-SO ABOUT IT?

1. THE WHOLE STORY

I put it in this section because to be honest, the story isn't boring at all, it makes sense, everything fits in, it develops the right way, it takes you to different locations in the most logical way, and the ending isn't so bad. But I also put it in this section because it's a super so-so plot. There's nothing too different or unique about it. It's not amazing or smart, but it's enjoyable. 

The Meg is just like other shark / monster movies (maybe a little to much like other movies): full of suspense and action but doesn't explore the character or plot too much. Definitely a fun movie to watch and enjoy but not to be remembered for long.