“The Meg” tells the story of a group of researchers encountering a scientific breakthrough, but they soon realize they haven’t encountered just one.
The opening scene presents the audience with a dramatic and action-filled backstory where 13 people are exploring the sea. Something goes wrong and one man attempts to save everyone — eventually saving most but not all. Cut to present day and big boss Morris (played by Rainn Wilson) steps onto a helicopter landing pad to meet with the head researcher Dr. Minway Zhang (played by Winston Chao). The two tour the facility, then meet with the entire team involved with discovering more of the ocean.
Once things seem good, they go bad. That’s when Jonas Taylor (played by Jason Statham) is brought in by the head scientist and his close friend, James Mackreides (played by Cliff Curtis). Statham’s character is made part of the team and this is when the next discovery comes into play. Not only is there more of the ocean, but also more life — the megalodon. This type of shark is a real prehistoric animal from almost 2.6 million years ago. The film portrays the shark as being larger than a humpback whale or giant squid.
The special effects were incredible, from teeth marks and wounds, to just portraying a species from millions of years ago. At one point, the head researcher’s daughter Suyin (played by Bingbing Li) is underwater trying to track down this “living fossil,” as they call it. Her one-person submarine is attacked by what she thinks is the megalodon, but just turns out to be a giant squid. In that scene, the suction cups are attached to the window and you can almost see and feel the pulsation of the squid’s attempt at breaking the glass.
Throughout the entire film, you have an idea of how giant this shark is. But, it isn’t until he ends up at a populated beach where a woman is on a paddle board and the shark swims underneath her that you understand. His back fin is as big as the paddleboard and woman put together.
All-in-all, the film was done well. At first, the pace felt slow, but it soon picked up and the story line was interesting. There were moments where it felt like the ultimate goal or path of story was unclear. At times, the story seemed to focus more on the romance of Suyin and Jonas more than it should. But, in the end, the film did a great job at wrapping things up in a heartfelt and relieving way.
Review overview
Storyline8.5
Pacing8
Acting9
Visuals10
Interesting9
Summary
8.9'The Meg' is a film about present day researchers discovering, and proving, the possibilities of what the world has to offer. Although fictional, the film does a great job at making the audience think about what we may not know about our work yet. There is a little bit of everything for any movie lover to enjoy and you will surely walk away impressed.
