Some of my favorite films involve animals, especially sharks, crocs, and other aquatic beasts. I thought nothing was better than a shark film on the big screen. The Meg promised an awesome cast with Jason Statham, Bingbing Li, Ruby Rose, and Rainn Wilson. And I even remembered to stash my Chicago-style popcorn in my handbag and saved a truckload of cash compared with buying it there. It cost around 130 million dollars to make The Meg. The production has changed hands, been passed around, and argued over. And boy, can you tell. Despite what I think are the film’s massive shortcomings, the movie announced a sequel. Find out what Meg 2 will be called by reading on.
What’s The Meg Film About?
Without reservation, this movie is loosely based on a novel by Steve Allen. The Meg is about a bunch of scientists who stumble across a 75-foot-long (23 m) megalodon. When it becomes free of its homely pocket under the ocean, people naturally want to kill it. Of course, it takes an alcoholic from Thailand to do it.
The Meg PG Horror Movie Trailer
Firstly, I don’t give a crap about the violence and gore missing from the movie. Many scenes in The Meg are among the best I’ve ever seen as far as special effects and CGI go. With a price tag like that, how could it not be near perfect? The detail in this film was painstakingly perfect. Seeing it on the big screen in 4K only compounded that. In the beach scene with crowds of beachgoers, small, pastel-colored, floating tubes are in massive numbers.
The Meg has a good old frolic in what I can only assume was deep AF beachfront water. The Meg opened its spectacular jaws wide, and I saw the remnants of those small colored rings. It looked exactly like Meg had just enjoyed a bowl of breakfast cereal, and I thought, “WOW!”
Additionally, close-ups of the giant fish left me to exclaim and open my eyes wide. Fast-moving action scenes involving tiny one-person submarines, shark swarms, and underwater explosions were a thing of beauty. Some laughter-inducing jump scares are pretty much announced, but still cause a small wave of shock to momentarily get my bum to leave the seat. I quite enjoyed the second half of the film. Anyone who’s seen it will know that the first half is fairly absent of much sharky action.
Should I Have Switched My Brain Off?
Here is my problem. The writing, the characters, and the inane decision-making can only be rivaled by that and any other crappy B-grade poorly flipped scripts made on the fly in an attempt to make a quick buck.
Among other examples is an 8-year-old left to wander around a multi-billion-dollar research facility. Without a doubt, having her join the crew of scientists hunting down a giant prehistoric predator on a boat for shits and giggles is just the tip of a very stupid iceberg. A babysitter, nanny, or well-meaning aunt or uncle could have easily inserted themselves into this. Undeniably, I get it, tongue-in-cheek fun. But surely, why not make good use of that $130 million and make it amazing?
Does The Dog Die in the Meg Movie?
In the Meg 2018 Movie Does the Dog Die?
The dog is alive and well at the end of the film. However, canine lovers will fear for the little guy’s life because it looks like he gets gobbled up.
I give The Meg
2.5 Where’s the effing babysitter? out of 5.
Would Including The Blood And Gore Have Made Everything OK?
I read statements from Jason Statham about the script he was first shown, and he said it was ‘radically different.’ What else did they stuff into this film after it was all squared away, I wondered? What about the other parts that annoyed the crap out of me? Is the PG-13 rating really to blame? What about the nonsensical storyline wrapped up in a $175 million movie? Did the horrifying death scenes aimed at adults get replaced with the ill-conceived popcorn summer blockbuster fluff and lazy writing?
If writers can do films for kids that include smart lines for the sole purpose of entertaining adults, why couldn’t they do the same here?
Finally, What Happened With The Meg Production?
- For one thing, production finally went ahead with Warner Bros after having been written by 7 different people. “The Meg” screenplay was finally bashed out by a trio of three people: Dean Georgaris, Jon Hoeber, and Erich Hoeber.
- Similarly, Disney Studios had their mitts on this film since the late 1990s. It wasn’t until 2015 that it was passed to Warner Bros, and the go button was pressed. Both Tom Wheeler and Jeffrey Boam scratched out some screenplays that got rejected over three years.
- In 2006, New Line Cinema had a crack at it but decided it was too expensive and canceled.
- And finally, Directors like Guillermo Del Toro (director, screenwriter, producer, and author), Jan de Bont (cinematographer), and Eli Roth (actor, director, producer, and writer) have all had a stab at working with different parts of the 20-year development limbo.
Eventually, Jon Turtletaub was the winner of the director-athon, and so the film was finally finished.
Meg 2: The Trench (2023): Bigger Teeth, Deeper Trouble, and Ben Wheatley Behind the Camera
When the prehistoric panic of The Meg crashed through cinemas in 2018, it left audiences both terrified and thrilled, and hungry for another bite. Not long after, Warner Bros. made it official: Meg 2: The Trench was coming. But instead of treading familiar waters, director Ben Wheatley (Kill List, In the Earth) took the helm, promising a deeper dive into chaos beneath the waves.
The story leaps five years beyond the first film. Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) has swapped shark-dodging for trench-tracking, until a research expedition unearths more than just ancient fossils. Multiple megalodons rise from the depths, joined by a swarm of deep-sea nightmares, and humanity once again finds itself very, very edible.
Based loosely on Steve Alten’s novel The Trench, the film trades scientific curiosity for spectacle, leaning into pulp adventure and absurd fun. Wheatley’s signature tension pulses through every bubble, and while fans once speculated we’d see “baby Megs” or an R-rated feeding frenzy, The Trench kept its PG-13 restraint, even if the carnage still splashes high enough to make your popcorn tremble.
Released worldwide on August 4, 2023, Meg 2 chomped through the box office, earning nearly $400 million USD despite critical maulings sharper than a dorsal fin. Critics may have circled, but audiences dove straight in for the ride, proving once again that giant shark movies never really sink; they just evolve.
“It’s not about the shark. It’s about what’s beneath it.”
— Mother of Movies
The Meg 2018 Review
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Date Created: 2018-08-24 00:05
2.5
Pros
- Effects
- Cast
- Shark
Cons
- Brain dead
