The Meg

I’m actually not all that surprise by Jason Statham being in this film. MEG is quite a quality b-rated movie, which looks stupid only in those moments when Jason doesn’t have a beer in his hand. Because when he does, he looks like the coolest guy under the sun, so I think he should’ve had one even while he was holding a fishing rod with the megalodon in his other hand. (01/11/2019)

I was afraid it would turn out to be like the one real disaster this summer, Skyscraper (I’m sorry to talk about it this way, but it was almost a catastrophe), but in the end, it turned out much better than I expected. Maybe Statham helped, whom I welcomed as the main character after a long break; he fit his role quite well, and his English, more precisely, his London accent sounded almost funny at times (so it was entertaining). In terms of the story, it’s not much, let’s be realistic, but unlike Skyscraper, this started with a lighter tone and ended that way too (Skyscraper was trying to be too serious). The CGI was very decent, with a few scenes really polished to the smallest detail, but given the budget, it would be sad if it didn’t look this way in the end. The ending was quite sugary; personally, I would have turned up the intensity (overall, you won’t see much blood, which is a bit disappointing considering it’s a movie with a giant shark). But so be it. Finally, I want to say that it bothers me a bit that the target audience for the film is once again Asia, but we can’t blame the film for that (and actually, the studios in general). Not accepting those hefty financial injections from the East would probably be a sin, that must be acknowledged. I give it 67%. (28/11/2018)

Jason Statham attempts to stop a giant prehistoric shark that scientists say should be long extinct but is still alive. And it's hungry. The Meg is an thoroughbred action B-movie, pulled forward by an excellent Statham and a big budget that Jon Turteltaub does some pretty wild things with. It's a shame, then, that by the end they softened up and the megalodon rampage has to do without blood. But it's still pretty entertaining crap. (09/08/2018)

Entertaining idiocy about a bloodthirsty prehistoric shark, in which Statham sings the same tune as Dory in Finding Nemo. The tricks are solid and the B-movie screenplay is supported by essential crutches such as a whining black guy, a bothersome billionaire and the requisite love story. But the movie also has a British joker up its sleeve who used to be a professional swimmer and saves everything, including the movie. I enjoyed it. (04/10/2019)

Chinese people like American blockbusters, yet at the same time they don't have the same demands from them as the American market. And movie studios realize that targeting a multi-million dollar market, which by virtue of the absence of any cultural alternative has inherently easier movie motives, is the way to a giant vault above the city where they can jump into a pile of dollars in a one-piece bathing suit. The Great Wall, starring Matt Damon, was a similar attempt at such a breakthrough, and it lived up to the expectations of a colorful, passionate, expensive action movie starring an American superstar. The Meg is aimed purely at the Chinese market, just by the way the actors are forced to act... Chinese. Excessive emotional expression, unnecessary gestures, sweeping gesticulations, plus the constant cuts to the people who are currently speaking. Not to mention a funny attempt to prove the moral superiority of the Chinese crew members over everyone else with their constant self-sacrifice or impassioned speeches about how man is hurting nature. I have no reason not to think that the disjointed scene where the American millionaire, who had been behaving quite normally – helping characters in trouble etc. – now decides to kill all the characters with Semtex was an afterthought, imposed by the demands of the Chinese production company. Why did there have to be some helicopters exploding completely randomly? Because Chinese audiences like exploding helicopters. We might just as well ask why the actress Ruby Rose had her tattoos repainted in the makeup room into Chinese visuals. Could it perhaps be because tattooed crosses aren't exactly popular with the Chinese? The Warners are betting that audiences will adapt to whatever succeeds in China, for which they deserve no more than one star. A perfectly clean equation of the film and the product. (13/11/2018)