Funded by a super rich dude, scientist discover that the ocean floor -at least in some parts – is a false bottom. Think of it as a frozen pond with another layer of deep, dark ocean under it. What they don’t realize is that in this unexplored region is an ancient predator: the megalodon. When the beast escapes into “our” layer, the group races to stop it before it devours everything in its path.
The Meg was pretty good. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it doesn’t go the silly, parody route. I didn’t realize that it was an American-Chinese production, so I was surprised that Li Bingbing was the female lead. She and Jason Statham took turns saving each other. Though it was established early on that her character had a crush on him, it didn’t get much further than that.
Rainn Wilson plays the rich dude – he’s suitably annoying and underhanded but not really a villain. Ruby Rose gives me a “tomb raider” vibe – even though her character doesn’t do much in the way of adventure here. I’m not sure if it’s the hair, the tattoos or both. She may have urgently punched some computer keys, but she didn’t get to do much during the action scenes.
Most of the other human characters are mostly a wash. For the first few minutes, they are engineers, scientist, researchers, etc – everyone has a few lines to establish their involvement with the project. Once the shark is loose, they become little more than potential fish food. This isn’t a complaint – it’s just the nature of creature features. The beast needs to eat.
The Meg is definitely more adventure-thriller than horror but it’s a fun time.
TIP: Leave deep sea creatures alone – they are minding their own business!
Tawanna Sullivan 