In the shark movie genre, it is known that the bigger the shark is, the better, and that when you hear the distinct scream from the beach “SHARK” everyone knows some unlucky person won’t make it out of the crowd of people storming the sand.
The classic shark movie “Jaws” got megafide on August 10th with the release of “The Meg” in theaters. Bringing in $44.5 million on just the first weekend, according to Business Insider, it shocked many. The science fiction thriller rating PG-13 begins as a rescue diver, Jonas Taylor, played by Jason Statham, attempts to save a group of men from a submarine that had been damaged, leaving it stuck on the bottom of the ocean. He is forced to leave two men behind or risk everyone’s lives as something attacks the damaged submarine.
Jumping forward, the development of a research facility “Main One” funded by billionaire Jack morris, played by Rainn Wilson, launches a deep sea mission exploring the bottom of the ocean. The team sent down comes across a new breathtaking discovery leading them into unchartered territory under the Pacific Ocean. As they continue their mission something goes terribly wrong when a mysterious creature attacks, leaving their submarine damaged. The three marine biologists, Lori, played by Jessica McNamee, Toshi, played by Masi Oka, and The Wall, played by Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, are then left stuck on the bottom of the ocean floor while a mysterious creature lurks around them.
As the head of the operation Dr. Minway, played by Winston Chao, and other team members on station “Main One” scramble for answers, they look to Jonas Taylor for assistance in rescuing the stranded marine biologists. The audience follows Jonas on his action packed adventure filled with state of the art technology down into the deep sea in search of the missing submarine. Along with their rescue due to certain circumstances the soon discovered meg finds its way to oceans surface where it creates all sorts of trouble.
Alongside fighting a 75-foot prehistoric megalodon, the movie hooked you with a love story building up on the side. It was the addition to the story that was needed to set it apart from every other shark movie. The idea of a love interest provided a greater depth to the plot other than, just kill the shark. While it was corny with lines like “Meg versus man isn’t a fight… it’s a slaughter,” this shark thriller still made the audience jump and scream as they watched the team try to survive the mega sized beast.
Director Jon Turteltaub took the CGI-Computer Generated Effects-to a whole new level with this film as he introduced the “largest” shark known to man. At times it was a bit questionable, but we have come a long way since the robot used in the making of “Jaws.”
This shark thriller is nothing more than a revamped version of Jaws with all the bells and whistles of state of the art technology. From cheesy deaths that you knew were coming, to close calls, and not as much blood as you would think (bummer!) it was an adequate shark movie.
While the reviews are a mixed batch according to CinemaBlend, in “Megs” third week in theaters it had already made more money than “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” The talk of a second movie is on the rise and we can see why. Now the question lies, if this prehistoric shark was supposed to be dead for millions of years, how is one alive today? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.