Keep It Reel: 'The Meg'
By Marc Woodfork
"The Meg" starring Jason Statham swims into theaters this weekend. If you actually want to spend money to see it, then keep your expectations extremely low. Actually, you might want to consider staying home and watching "Jaws" instead. "The Meg" is about a prehistoric shark formally called a Megalodon that existed two and a half million years ago. It went extinct due to lack of an adequate food supply and warmer ocean temperatures. But, somehow in this film, one has seemingly survived.
Even suspending disbelief, the far-fetched concept is just too much to believe. The acting is sub-par which is to be expected, so maybe at least the CGI work would be first class. Sadly, no. Very average SFX. Not enough to carry the film.
I get the natural draw to this film. I like a good thrill as much as the next person, if it's a shark or an oversize gorilla, or dinosaur. "The Meg" lacks all the qualities the makes other films of this type exciting. Instead, we get cliché frights and underwhelming action. As I said earlier, you would be better off saving your money and watching "Jaws" at home.