The Meg Review

The Meg

Release Date: 16th August 2018 - Australia

Production Companies
Warner Bros. Pictures
Apelles Entertainment
Di Bonaventura Pictures
Flagship Entertainment Group
Gravity Pictures
Maeday Productions

Distribution
Roadshow Films

Genre: Sci-Fi/Action

Rating: M

Runtime: 113 minutes

Budget: $130,000,000

Box Office Gross: $530,517,320 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

A deep-sea submersible explored the Mariana

trenches below the Pacific

Ocean when came under

attack by a Megalodon, a 75-foot prehistoric shark thought to be extinct. Desperate, a Chinese oceanographer hires Jonas Taylor, an expert sea rescue diver who had once escaped from the same shark years earlier. Jonas must embark on a daring rescue mission to save the crew from this gigantic deep-sea predator and confront his fears.

Cast

Jason Statham - Jonas Taylor

Li Bingbing - Suyin

Rainn Wilson - Morris

Ruby Rose - Jaxx

Winston Chao - Shang

Cliff Curtis - Mac
Shuya Sophia Cai - Meiying
Page Kennedy - DJ
Robert Taylor - Heller
Ólafur Darri Ólafsson - The Wall
Jessica McNamee - Lori
Masi Oka - Toshi

Hongmei Mai - Mother

Wei Yi - Awesome Kid on Beach

Rob-Kipa Williams - D'Angelo

Tawanda Manyimo - Marks

Mark Trotter - Injured Sailor

James E. Gaylyn - David E. Jordan

Andrew Grainger - Morris' Lawyer

Steven A. Davis - Speedboat

Crewman

Glen Levy - Speedboat

Mercenary

Edwin Wright - Morris'

Helicopter Pilot

Marc Copage - Interrogator

Ivy Tsui - Bride

Jeremy Tan - Groom

Yao Yao - Dude on Raft

Kelly the Dog - Pippin the Dog

Crew

Director - Jon Turteltaub

Based on the Novel "Meg" -

Steve Alten

Screenplay - Dean Georgaris

and Jon & Erich Hoeber

Executive Producers - Randy Greenberg, Wayne Wei Jiang, Gerald R. Molen, Barrie M. Osborne and Catherine Xujun Ying

Executive Producer/Executive Charge of Production - Chantal Nong

Producers - Belle Avery and Lorenzo di Bonaventura

Producer/Unit Production Manager: China Unit - Colin Wilson

Co-Producers - Ben Erwei Ji

and Alexander Loewy
Casting - PoPing AuYeung

and Mindy Marin

Casting: Australia - Nikki Barrett

Casting: New Zealand - Liz Cullane

Production Designer - Grant Major
Supervising Art Director - Kim Sinclair

Construction Supervisor - Neil Kirkland

Set Decorator - Amber Richards

Costume Designer - Amanda Neale

Makeup and Hair Designer - Jane O'Kane
Director of Photography - Tom Stern

First Assistant Director - Geoffrey Hansen
Second Unit Director - James Madigan

Second Unit Director: H20 Unit - John Mahaffie
Stunt Coordinator - Allan Poppleton

Dive Coordinator - Dave Morrell

Special Effects Supervisor - Steve Ingram
Special Effects Coordinators - Phil McLaren,

Karl Chisholm, Dean Clarke and Amy Ingram

Visual Effects Supervisor - Adrian De Wet

Visual Effects Supervisor: SPI - Sue Rowe

Additional Visual Effects Supervisors: Scanline

VFX - Stephan Trojansky and Jan Krupp

Visual Effects Producer: Soho FX - Allan Magled

Visual Effects Executive Producer: Image

Engine - Shawn Walsh

Animation Supervisor: Scanline VFX -

Clement Yip

Compositing Supervisor: Double Negative -

Brian Connor
Editors - Steven Kemper and Kelly Matsumoto

Supervising Sound Editors - Erik Aadahl

and Ethan Van der Ryan

Supervising Sound Editor: E2/Sound Designer -

Jason W. Jennings

Production Sound Mixer - Tony Johnson

Re-Recording Mixers - Ron Bartlett

and Doug Hemphill
Music - Harry Gregson-Williams

Review
Apart from Jaws, I haven't seen a good shark film since, though many other thrillers have attempted to replicate its suspenseful impact. All have failed, with notable exceptions like Deep Blue Sea and THE MEG. The decision to watch THE MEG is easy since I have the movie on my hard drive. The film feels like a cheesy low-grade B movie, and the whole giant shark idea has been done to death many times. Excuse the pun. However, if you can't get enough of seeing unsuspecting victims become shark bait, THE MEG will feed your appetite. The movie doesn't have memorable one-liners like in Jaws. The production is of high value. And that's what saves it from a big sinker. There are some thrills in the feature that satisfy your craving for excitement.

I knew Jason Statham was a good action star, but he has never been in a big fishy tale. Despite this, his performance remained unshadowed by the sea-based threat. Nor was Rainn Wilson in the supporting cast. Each of these players did fine acting in the feature.

While the movie is ridiculous, there is fun, action and suspense in THE MEG, making it an enjoyable aquatic experience. If you haven't seen this film, it is worth watching for shark-loving moviegoers.

Star rating: (7/10) Good Movie

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