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| Jason Statham |
About twenty years ago or so a novel called "Meg" by Steve Alten was published with a minor splash, primarily because the movie rights had been bought before publication by Disney. The film never materialized, although there were other films about giant prehistoric sharks (species: megalodon), as well as novels, at least one of which was published before Meg. I don't know why the book and film were in developmental hell for so long, but the movie adaptation has finally come out. I remember the novel as being fun but not that well-written. The film may be a slight improvement.
Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) survived an attack by a gigantic creature and has given up diving, until he receives a call for help. A sub with people he knows on it has been disabled underwater and a rescue mission is required. Taylor manages to save most of the people, but discovers that a huge prehistoric shark has come up from a lower level of the ocean. Then it attacks the floating base ...
To be fair to The Meg it does have some thrilling scenes with Statham heroically taking on the gargantuan creature and saving the lives of his companions. But there are a few obnoxious characters (the cowardly black dates back to Stepin Fetchit and is pretty ridiculous in this day and age), and more than its share of cliches. Gore Geeks will be disappointed that the carnage of the film is tasteful, you don't have people being shredded in living color as in Piranha 3D, but that's okay with me. There is some tension and suspense, but somehow the movie ultimately just doesn't impress that much. The music by Harry Gregson-Williams provides needed atmosphere, the pace is fast, the FX ecellent, and Statham offers a charismatic lead performance, however.
Verdict: By no means a bad movie, but not something you'll necessarily want in your permanent DVD collection, either. **1/2.
To be fair to The Meg it does have some thrilling scenes with Statham heroically taking on the gargantuan creature and saving the lives of his companions. But there are a few obnoxious characters (the cowardly black dates back to Stepin Fetchit and is pretty ridiculous in this day and age), and more than its share of cliches. Gore Geeks will be disappointed that the carnage of the film is tasteful, you don't have people being shredded in living color as in Piranha 3D, but that's okay with me. There is some tension and suspense, but somehow the movie ultimately just doesn't impress that much. The music by Harry Gregson-Williams provides needed atmosphere, the pace is fast, the FX ecellent, and Statham offers a charismatic lead performance, however.
Verdict: By no means a bad movie, but not something you'll necessarily want in your permanent DVD collection, either. **1/2.
I noticed this movie playing on my premium channels this month; now maybe I will check it out. I have yet to fall in love with Statham as actor and leading man...even though he seems appealing.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the guy has any problems getting dates, even if he weren't a movie star (although I don't really think of him as a bonafide movie star a la Tom Cruise). Not handsome as such, but he has that certain intensity which many people find intriguing. Anyway, it seems to have worked for him more or less.
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