The Meg

***The Meg*** is a 2018 science fiction action film directed by Jon Turteltaub with a screenplay by Dean Georgaris, Jon Hoeber, and Erich Hoeber, loosely based on the 1997 book, *Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror*, by Steve Alten. A sequel, titled *Meg 2: The Trench*, is in development.

## Plot

Previously thought to be extinct, a massive creature attacks a deep-sea submersible, leaving it disabled and trapping the crew at the bottom of the Pacific. With time running out, a visionary oceanographer recruits rescue diver Jonas Taylor to save the crew and the sea itself from an unimaginable threat -- a 75-foot-long prehistoric shark known as the Megalodon.

## Why It's Great

1. Unlike most shark films that try to copy *Jaws* or have just plain ridiculous writing (like *Three-Headed Shark* or Sharktopus), *The Meg* is actually a pretty good shark film that tries to do its own decent take on the protagonists facing a man-eating shark.
2. Great acting, especially from Jason Statham and Winston Chao.
3. The film has a few funny moments here and there, like when Morris is first introducing himself to Suyin and messes up when speaking in Chinese.
4. The opening scene was heartbreaking as Jonas had to leave two of his men behind to die in order to save everybody else.
5. The megaladon(s) that terrorizes and tries to eat the main characters is truly scary on its own.
6. The idea of a research team trying to find life at the very bottom of the sea but end up encountering a megaladon is pretty original.
7. Likable, relatable and interesting characters, such as Jonas, Suyin and Dr. Zhang.
8. The film has an awesome soundtrack, such as Hey Mickey which is sung entirely in Thai.
9. Each and everyone of the scenes is well-executed, like when a giant squid attacks Suyin only to get attacked and eaten by the shark or the badass ending scene where Jonas kills the megaladon.
10. A nice and subtle reference to Dory’s famous “Just keep swimming.” line from *Finding Nemo* and *Finding Dory*.
11. The chemistry between Jonas and Suyin is pretty decent and is not your usual clichéd romantic side-plot.

## Bad Qualities

1. Horrible CGI on the megalodon.
2. The dialogue is one of the worst parts of the movie. For example, "You might be a son of a bitch, but you sure are no coward."
3. There’s a giant “WTF”-type of moment in the film that’s also a huge plot hole: The megaladon was seen swimming up very fast towards and about to attack a small dog named Pippin, but somehow Pippin has shown to survive later on.
4. There’s a very noticeable error throughout the entire movie where the megaladon(s) change sizes between scenes and/or shots.
5. The movie is an adaptation of the first book in name only.

## Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 46% based on 293 reviews, with an average rating of 5.31/10.

## Box Office

*The Meg* grossed $145.4 million in the United States and Canada, as well as $384.8 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $530.2 million, against a production budget between $130 million to $178 million.

## External links

* ***The Meg*** on IMDB
* ***The Meg*** on Rotten Tomatoes