Tag Archives: Jason Statham

Meg 2: The Trench is Twice as Dumb, Three Times as Much Fun

Posted on by
1
Advertisements

Five years have passed since Jason Statham fought a prehistoric shark in The Meg. Not surprisingly, critics weren’t overly impressed with the big screen adaptation of Steve Alten’s novel. But that didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Audiences flocked to the theaters making The Meg a box office success and all but guaranteeing a sequel. Now Meg 2: The Trench is finally swimming into cineplexes across the globe. Consistent with the rules of sequels, Jason Statham faces off against not one, but three, megalodon sharks as well as some other giant aquatic monstrosities. Critics are even less impressed with the sequel and early box office numbers suggest that global interest will be important.

Synopsis

Five years have passed in Jonas Taylor fought and killed the unbelievable – a prehistoric megalodon shark. Now Taylor fights against environmental crimes on the ocean while still working with his team at Mana One to explore the Mariana Trench. During deep sea expedition into the Trench, Taylor and the Mana One team discover a rogue mining operation. Sabotage quickly strands the Mana One team at the bottom of the Trench surrounded by three Megalodon sharks and little chance to escape.

Meg 2: The Trench Crams Several Different Movies Into One Screenplay … None of Them Are All That Clever

Somehow Meg 2: The Trench has earned worse reviews than its predecessor. Of course, the sequel isn’t technically a good movie on any objective measure. Director Ben Wheatley (Kill List, In the Earth), better known for mumblegore indie horror, was an odd choice to helm The Trench. Moreover, Wheatley was working with a ‘dogs breakfast’ of a screenplay credited to three writers. How do you make 90 minute-plus movie about giant sharks that can pretty much swallow people whole? The answer, according to the writers, is to make a movie stitched together from several different types of movies. As a result, Meg 2: The Trench feels like a Frankstein’s monster of a story where the megalodon sharks spend much of the first act in the background.

… Meg 2: The Trench feels like a Frankstein’s monster of a story…

The opening scene, for example, feels like something out of a typical Jason Statham action movie and out of place from what follows. Much of the middle action – which finds the Mana One team stranded at the bottom of The Trench – borrows heavily from Underwater. Once everyone returns to the surface, Meg 2: The Trench finally embraces its campy roots and rockets to a silly, fun climax. In between, Wheatley and company spin a story that borrows heavily from other movies, ignores even its own internal logic, and boasts some dreadful dialogue. You’ll have many questions, like how a rogue mining operation got built in the Trench without anyone noticing. Don’t bother asking.

Meg 2: The Trench Proves To Be a Wildly Fun Rollercoaster Ride In Spite of Itself

While it’s a stupid movie in many, if not most, ways, Meg 2: The Trench is also a consistently fun rollercoaster ride. To his credit, Wheatley weathers the genre shifts in the screenplay and manages to get the most out of each disparate part of the movie. In fact, the middle act at the bottom of The Trench is often quite suspenseful. Damn accuracy and realism because the prologue where a ‘meg’ feasts on a Tyrannosaurus Rex looked amazing. And once Wheatley moves the action to the surface and ‘Love Island,’ Meg 2: The Trench abruptly embraces its campy nature. It’s a busy and over-the-top finale that delivers on all the action you want from a movie about giant prehistoric sharks. Throw in some references to the Jaws franchise and this a sequel that infinitely improves on the original.

To his credit, Wheatley weathers the genre shifts in the screenplay and manages to get the most out of each disparate part of the movie.

If Meg 2: The Trench gets one thing right about monster movies, it’s how to use its human cast. Don’t expect any depth or significant character arcs. In fact, Jason Statham and return cast members Cliff Curtis, and Page Kennedy are largely operating on auto-pilot. In place of the inexplicably missing Li Bingbing, Asian superstar Wu Jing joins the cast and looks like he’s having an absolute blast in this silly monster movie. There’s a handful of human villains, including Sienna Guillory (Resident Evil: Apocalypse), who chew up almost as much scenery as the giant sharks. Everyone starring in this sequel seems to have understood the assignment.

Meg 2: The Trench a Reminder That It’s Okay For Summer Movies to Just Be Fun

Yes, there’s plenty with which to take issue with Meg 2: The Trench. From a Frankenstein’s story stitched together from other movies to megalodon-sized gaps in logic to braindead dialogue, no one will mistake this big summer blockbuster for anything other than what it intended to be – a big, dumb, and fun movie. Consider it mission accomplished because this is one blockbuster that’s wall-to-wall fun. Wheatley even manages some suspense in the second act before doubling down on the meg-themed action for the climax. While Oppenheimer and Barbie prove that summer movies can be smart and topical, Meg 2: The Trench reminds us that’s it also okay if they’re just a lot of fun.

THE PROFESSOR’S FINAL GRADE: B-

The Meg is Big, Dumb, and Forgettably Fun

Posted on by
10
Advertisements

It’s finally here. After months of anticipation and a marketing campaign as massive as its title creature, The Meg is in theatres. Based on the best-selling novel by Steve Alten, The Meg has generated considerable buzz since the project was first announced. Critical reception has been mixed to negative from critics. Audiences are unlikely to care. Now the only real question left is whether The Meg can justify its big price tag with box office receipts.

Synopsis

Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) is a deep sea rescue diver. Five years ago, Taylor attempted a rescue of several scientists that were attacked by a giant shark, but the mission ended with some of the team members dying. In the present day, scientists at Mana One, an underwater research facility, are attempting to map regions of the ocean deeper than have ever been explored. When a submersible carrying three scientists is attacked by a massive shark, Taylor is called in again to rescue the researchers. But the rescue is complicated when an explosion breaks open the ocean floor, releasing a 70-foot Megalodon. Once believed to be extinct, now the prehistoric shark is hunting freely in the ocean waters.

Less Jaws, More Deep Blue Sea

First and foremost, The Meg is basically a B-monster movie with a massive budget and marketing campaign. There is nothing profound or earth-shattering about this movie. It’s unlikely to make any ‘Best Of’ list or be placed next to Jaws in horror film history. Like Deep Blue Sea and Piranha 3D, The Meg is very aware of what kind of movie it’s delivering to audiences. It’s a big, dumb film that’s filled with eye-rolling dialogue. Fortunately, The Meg is also aware of just how silly it is on paper.

There’s also a shortage of fun, out-there moments in a movie about a 70-foot prehistoric shark.

Unfortunately, this self-awareness is where The Meg falters and misses being a truly great summer movie. It clearly wants to be a B-monster film that embraces its own campiness. Most the humour in The Meg, however, is strained at best. Younger audiences may giggle, but more often than not, I found myself wincing. Even Rainn Wilson, clearly cast to add some comic relief, grates more than he entertains.

There’s also a shortage of fun, out-there moments in a movie about a 70-foot prehistoric shark. After the deluge of promotional material showing ‘The Meg’ swimming into crowded beach waters, I was crossing my fingers for something like what Alexandre Aja gave us with the beach scene in Piranha 3D. That’s not to say that the movie doesn’t include its fair share of high-octane action moments. It’s just that nothing feels really memorable. Even The Meg’s ending is strangely anti-climatic.

Excellent Special Effects, A Restrained Shark

Shark movies need to deliver a convincing shark. Contrary to what younger horror fans may have to say on the subject, Jaws still delivers the goods. If you’re planning on seeing The Meg in theatres you won’t be disappointed by the special effects spectacle on the screen. In fact, the shark effects are arguably the highlight of The Meg with the 70-foot prehistoric ‘baddie’ impressing whenever it’s on screen.

Director Jon Turteltaub, who has a knack for helming safe box office fare (National Treasure) competently handles the The Meg’s action. There are a couple of genuinely impressive shark moments – at least least one of which that has been prominently featured in the film’s promotional bits. Yet it felt like there wasn’t a true ‘money shot’ moment like The ‘We’re going to need a bigger boat moment’ from Jaws. Nothing about The Meg feels iconic and viewers may struggle to recall any particular moment on the drive home.

Nothing about The Meg feels iconic and viewers may struggle to recall any particular moment on the drive home.

Again The Meg feels surprisingly reserved for a film about a 70-foot shark. Horror films can absolutely be PG-13 and still entertain and scare. But it feels like a lot of material was left on the cutting room floor. There wasn’t near enough carnage making The Meg feel like an oddly safe effort. I liked what I saw in the movie, but wanted to see more.

Jason Statham Makes Everything Better

For what’s essentially a B-movie, The Meg has rounded up an impressive cast of shark bait. The always charismatic Jason Statham is solid in what’s a pretty cliched role. But Statham, like Dwayne Johnson, can always be counted on to enliven even the most generic movie. In The Meg, Statham looks like he’s having fun. His fun, tongue-in-cheek performance keeps things afloat when the prehistoric shark is missing in action.

Bingbing Li, Ruby Rose, and Cliff Curtis are all excellent in their respective roles. If there’s any complaint it’s that none of these talented actors is given much to do. As much as I like Rainn Wilson, he’s a bad fit for his character. One can’t help but feel that Wilson was shoehorned into the movie. Other familiar faces are present but they’re not likely to register with audiences as not much more than shark chum.

Good, but Not Great, Late Summer Fare

As we head into the dog days of summer, box office options are drying up. The Meg is the last ‘big event’ movie of the summer, and it’s one that offers just enough fun to justify a trip to the cineplex. Nothing about The Meg stands out as necessarily bad, but you’ll be hard-pressed to pick out anything great about it. For a movie where everything from it’s title monster to the marketing campaign was ‘bigger’, it’s an oddly middle-of-the road outing that won’t make you forget Jaws, or Deep Blue Sea, any time soon.

THE PROFESSOR’S FINAL GRADE: B

The Meg (2018) Swims Into Theatres August 10

Posted on by
3
Advertisements

We’re well into the hot, humid days of summer. To date, Summer 2018 has generously given horror fans Hereditary, Upgrade, and The First Purge. But it wouldn’t be summer without a decent shark flick to play off of our fears of what lurks under the ocean. Last summer gave us 47 Meters Down and 2016 delivered the fun The Shallows. But this summer will beg the question – Is bigger truly better? The most hotly anticipated box office horror film set to release in August is the long anticipated The Meg.

What Is It About and When Does It Come Out?

Based on the 1997 Steve Alten novel, Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror, The Meg has been heavily promoted by Warner Bros Pictures in recent months. To date, we know Jason Statham plays a deep sea rescue diver tasked with rescuing the crew on a submersible research station that has been stranded at the bottom of the ocean. However, to rescue its crew, Statham must confront a monster he’s seen once before – the previously believed to be extinct Megalodon shark, a 75-foot prehistoric fish. We’re just a little over a month out from the release date of August 10.

Who’s Making It?

Director Jon Turteltaub is behind the camera for The Meg. Turteltaub is an interesting choice to helm the action-horror film and his presence perhaps says a lot about the tone we can expect The Meg to adopt. To date, Turteltaub has largely crafted safe, crowd-pleasing action-comedy fare like the National Treasure films. He was also the director behind the fun Cool Runnings and early 90’s Sandra Bullock vehicle, While You Were Sleeping. Turteltaub has no experience with the horror genre having only directed the middling psychological thriller, Instinct.

Who’s In It?

Action star Jason Statham is headlining The Meg. It’s an interesting casting choice that, along with Turteltaub’s presence, strongly suggests that The Meg will lean heavily on action. The international cast is rounded out by Cliff Curtis (Fear the Walking Dead), Ruby Rose (Orange is the New Black), Rainn Wilson (The Office), and Li Bingbing (Transformers: Age of Extinction). Rain Wilson’s casting isn’t surprising given Turteltaub’s preference for comedy-oriented action.

What Does the Promotional Material Tell Us?

Since the first trailer dropped in early April, Warner Bros Pictures has kicked its marketing efforts into high gear. In addition to the original trailer, we’ve now seen a couple of international trailers, TV spots, and several promotional images and plaster.

While the first trailer didn’t give much information about the film’s story, the international trailers and television spots have filled out the. blanks in The Meg’s basic pemise. More importantly, the promotional material tells you a lot about about the film’s tone. From the opening shots of the first trailer, The Meg seems to promise an intense under-water horror film with Megalodon’s shadowy appearance. However, most subsequent marketing suggests that the Jon Turteltaub-directed triller may have more in common with Alexandre Aja’s Piranha Renny Harlin’s Deep Blue Sea than Jaws.

All the trailer shots of the giant shark are quick making it difficult to get a feel for the quality of the special effects. The quality of CGI effects will be crucial to The Meg‘s long-term box office prospects. Admittedly, the shot of the Megalodon swimming beneath all those swimmers looks pretty cool. Ultimately the marketing material seems to promise some late-summer fun in the tradition of shark films like Deep Blue Sea and other lighter creature-fare like the underrated Lake Placid.