All anyone needs to know about The Meg is this: yes, Jason Statham fights a megalodon. The hype around The Meg has mostly been built around whether or not Statham's character would go head-to-head against the titular creature, and indeed he does. That said, the movie isn't Snakes on A Plane, where the collective internet wanted to see Samuel L. Jackson fight snakes and curse up a storm in R-rated glory, and got what expected. Disappointingly, The Meg has been cut down for a PG-13, so the shark attacks are completely bloodless and the one use of the F-word is cut off by a closing door.
Had the tone and the rating of The Meg been closer to Snakes on A Plane or Piranha 3D, this would have become a cult classic. As it is, the film takes itself too seriously, although there are some great one-liners and doesn't phone in his performance. Statham once again proves he's Hollywood's most reliable action star. Statham's character is a total cliche, the hero who just wants to live a quiet life and not see any more death, but Statham makes it work, whereas it could have come off as self-parody if not done right. Even though The Meg is appropriately billed as a shark film, it's really Statham's movie. Unlike most of his other vehicles and action movies in general, The Meg doesn't feature any fist fights, car chases, or gun battles. The film doesn't need them; it has plenty of (PG-13) shark action. While I admire the filmmakers for going against some of the action movie clichés in terms of set pieces, there's still plenty of annoying other clichés on display here when it comes to the characters: the comic relief sidekick, the greedy billionaire, and the precocious child. All these roles are completely underwritten and one-dimensional; it's not the fault of the actors in these roles but of the script. Maybe in addition to all the blood/violence that was cut out, some character development was removed as well. Only Statham's character is fleshed out to any degree of satisfaction, which is seems lazy given the 103-minute runtime. Despite the poor characterization and softening of the violence, there's still some fun to be had with The Meg. There is a fair amount of tension to go along with some of the shark attacks, and director Jon Turteltaub thankfully does not go for too many cheap "boo" scares, but at least when he does they are effectively surprising. Additionally the creature and ship design show off the film's reported $150 million budget. Everything onscreen itself looks pretty great: the ocean cinematography, the set decoration, the use of color, etc. Overall, The Meg looks a whole lot better visually than recent shark pictures like 47 Meters Down or The Shallows. It's easy to imagine what the low-budget version of The Meg would be like. Thankfully, that's not what the audience was given. With all the money spent on The Meg, it's kind of understandable why the studio mandated a PG-13 rating. Despite the censorship, it delivers on the promise of having Jason Statham fight a giant shark. Even with all its flaws, I just can't hate any movie that has Statham taking on a shark. Perhaps that one fantastic scene is the only thing the movie will be remembered for, and that's okay. Not every shark film can be Jaws. 6/10
Had the tone and the rating of The Meg been closer to Snakes on A Plane or Piranha 3D, this would have become a cult classic. As it is, the film takes itself too seriously, although there are some great one-liners and doesn't phone in his performance. Statham once again proves he's Hollywood's most reliable action star. Statham's character is a total cliche, the hero who just wants to live a quiet life and not see any more death, but Statham makes it work, whereas it could have come off as self-parody if not done right. Even though The Meg is appropriately billed as a shark film, it's really Statham's movie. Unlike most of his other vehicles and action movies in general, The Meg doesn't feature any fist fights, car chases, or gun battles. The film doesn't need them; it has plenty of (PG-13) shark action. While I admire the filmmakers for going against some of the action movie clichés in terms of set pieces, there's still plenty of annoying other clichés on display here when it comes to the characters: the comic relief sidekick, the greedy billionaire, and the precocious child. All these roles are completely underwritten and one-dimensional; it's not the fault of the actors in these roles but of the script. Maybe in addition to all the blood/violence that was cut out, some character development was removed as well. Only Statham's character is fleshed out to any degree of satisfaction, which is seems lazy given the 103-minute runtime. Despite the poor characterization and softening of the violence, there's still some fun to be had with The Meg. There is a fair amount of tension to go along with some of the shark attacks, and director Jon Turteltaub thankfully does not go for too many cheap "boo" scares, but at least when he does they are effectively surprising. Additionally the creature and ship design show off the film's reported $150 million budget. Everything onscreen itself looks pretty great: the ocean cinematography, the set decoration, the use of color, etc. Overall, The Meg looks a whole lot better visually than recent shark pictures like 47 Meters Down or The Shallows. It's easy to imagine what the low-budget version of The Meg would be like. Thankfully, that's not what the audience was given. With all the money spent on The Meg, it's kind of understandable why the studio mandated a PG-13 rating. Despite the censorship, it delivers on the promise of having Jason Statham fight a giant shark. Even with all its flaws, I just can't hate any movie that has Statham taking on a shark. Perhaps that one fantastic scene is the only thing the movie will be remembered for, and that's okay. Not every shark film can be Jaws. 6/10