The Meg (2018)

After escaping an attack by what he claims was a 70-foot shark, Jonas Taylor must confront his fears to save those trapped in a sunken submersible.

Director:

Jon Turteltaub

Writers:

Dean Georgaris (screenplay by), Jon Hoeber (screenplay by)

Stars:

Jason Statham, Bingbing Li, Rainn Wilson

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Statham	...	Jonas Taylor
Bingbing Li	...	Suyin
Rainn Wilson	...	Morris
Cliff Curtis	...	Mac
Winston Chao	...	Zhang
Shuya Sophia Cai	...	Meiying (as Sophia Cai)
Ruby Rose	...	Jaxx
Page Kennedy	...	DJ
Robert Taylor	...	Heller
Ólafur Darri Ólafsson	...	The Wall
Jessica McNamee	...	Lori
Masi Oka	...	Toshi
Raymond Vinten	...	Dive Control Technician
Hongmei Mai	...	Mother (as Mai Hongmei)
Wei Yi	...	Awesome Kid on Beach

Storyline

Five years ago, expert sea diver and Naval Captain Jonas Taylor encountered an unknown danger in the unexplored recesses of the Mariana Trench that forced him to abort his mission and abandon half his crew. Though the tragic incident earned him a dishonorable discharge, what ultimately cost him his career, his marriage and any semblance of honor was his unsupported and incredulous claims of what caused it - an attack on his vessel by a mammoth, 70-foot sea creature, believed to be extinct for more than a million years. But when a submersible lies sunk and disabled at the bottom of the ocean - carrying his ex-wife among the team onboard - he is the one who gets the call. Whether a shot at redemption or a suicide mission, Jonas must confront his fears and risk his own life and the lives of everyone trapped below on a single question: Could the Carcharodon Megalodon - the largest marine predator that ever existed - still be alive ... and on the hunt?

---

Plot Keywords:

great white shark | deep sea | based on novel | predator | carcharodon | 

---

Taglines:

They went to hell to build the world's largest aquarium...now they're going even further to stock it. They'll need a bigger boat...MUCH bigger.

---

Genres:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for action/peril, bloody images and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Facebook Official Site

Country:

USA China

Language:

English Mandarin

Release Date:

10 August 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Meg

Filming Locations:

Hauraki Gulf, Auckland, New Zealand

Box Office

Budget:

$130,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$45,402,195, 12 August 2018, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$143,005,856, 1 November 2018

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$315,960,074, 19 August 2018

Company Credits

Production Co:

Apelles Entertainment,Di Bonaventura Pictures,Flagship Entertainment Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos Sonics-DDP Auro 11.1 DTS (DTS: X) SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene with the giant squid could be referencing The Beast, a novel written by Peter Benchley, who also happens to have written Jaws.

---

Goofs

It is mentioned that the nuclear submarine rescue attempt was in excess of 10,000 meters depth. The estimated crush depth of contemporary nuclear submarines is approximately 730 meters. Even making allowances for "classified" data on crush depth would leave any submarine well above the 10,000 meters mentioned. Of course, the movie is about a 70 shark from the Marianna Trench...

---

Quotes

Jonas Taylor: My God. It's a megalodon.
Morris: He's kidding, right?

---

Crazy Credits

The foreign language version of the song "Mickey" which appeared earlier in the film plays over the credits.

---

Connections

Referenced in Half in the Bag: Slender Man (2018)

---

Soundtracks

Do Something Crazy (Good Vibes Only)
Written by Outasight (as Richard Andrew Conte), Shiben Bhattacharya and Cook Classics (as William Lobban-Bean)
Performed by Outasight
Courtesy of RPM MSC
By arrangement with The Greater Goods, LLC

User Reviews

The Meg was meh

16 reviews, and half are all a fake high-rated single review of this film - makes me shake my head why the producers think their viewers are dumb and wont see thru the fakes. All it takes is one click to see the only single review from the poster. Don't get me started on the moronic review from halil-92019: "Playing computer games makes kids smarter?"

This film had it's moments, but it was nothing spectacular. The best parts were the cinematography, visuals and directing. The story itself has been done so many times, making the shark prehistoric doesn't add anything to the imagination. The writers needed to up this a few levels and not rely on Statham (who was great as always) to bring in the moviegoers into the theater. The 103 min length felt a little long, but the pacing good enough to keep you interested, although it was missing that constant extra thrill and suspense I expected. Instead, I cringed at the cheesy 1 liners and poor attempt at humor - most executed at the wrong time.

It's an honest deserving score of only 6/10 from me.