The Meg is a prehistoric sea creature thought to exist only in historical lore. Lo and behold, what happens when humans decide to explore unexplored waters? Specifically, water that's never been breached before. In the floor of the ocean that turns out to be a ceiling of another, much deeper, layer of the ocean, lies The Meg. Coming up for air after many, many years, the question remains- why now? Why did the scientists' breach of that ceiling/floor all of a sudden force The Meg, into our waters, instead of staying far, far, away? Terrorizing everything that comes its way, and things not in its way, The Meg is not alone. Stay out of the water, humans- we have company.
Starring Jason Statham (The Transporter), The Meg is an action-packed thriller. Statham plays Jonas Taylor, who is a deep-sea rescue diver. His background story consists of a failed rescue attempt, where he had to leave the crew of a sub to die. No one believed his story of a monster attacking that sub and never having dived since Jonas spent the last few years drinking his memories away. Jonas only agrees to assist in this rescue because it is his ex-wife that needs rescuing and in doing so, he is vindicated in that he now has unfortunate proof that the monster does indeed, exist. While the rescue is successful, Jonas is unable to return to his drunken beach life when The Meg appears and Jonas must help find a way to keep humanity safe from the Megalodon.
Statham provides most of the humor in such a serious themed movie and allows is sarcasm allows the audience to breathe for a moment in between the action-packed scenes. Nonetheless, the other actors provide a strong performance and enhance the movie. Meiying (Shuya Sophia Cai; Somewhere Only We Know) is the young child of Suyin (Bingbing Li; Transformers: Age of Extinction), the main scientist on the crew. Meiying captures the heart of Jonas and helps him care about life and people again. The dialogue between Jonas and Meiying seems to be a back and forth between two adults- one smarter than the other- and in most cases, it is the child who is smarter. Cai is amazing in the movie and the famous scene where she is in the glass-encased walkway when her ball lights up and attracts the Meg is definitely another Warner Bros. edge of your seat scene. Li's on-screen chemistry with Statham is subtle and works within the storyline and provides that bit of romance that every movie needs.
The 4K UltraHD Blu-ray is presenting in HDR in 2160p. The special effects are amazing and the deep underwater colors really seem inky and clear at the same time. Again, the color differentiation between the dark sea, the colors of the flashing lights on the ball, and the sudden appearance of the Meg are so contrasting that the colors of the scene cause the viewer's eyes to be glued to the television screen. The audio is presented in Dolby/Atmos-TrueHD. Sound quality is crisp. There is no strain to hear and understand dialogue despite, for example, ocean sounds and helicopter sounds in the background.
The 4k UltraHD Blu-ray also comes with a 1080p HD Blu-ray, which not only contains the full-length feature, but also three Special Features, lasting about 25 minutes total. Creating the Beast is a featurette on the way that the Megalodon was created in all its layers. Chomp On This: The Making of The Meg is a featurette about the making of the movie. The third Special Feature is entitled New Zealand Film Commission and shows how although the film is set in the waters outside of China, the surrounding area of New Zealand and its waters became home to the filming of The Meg. This set also comes with a digital code so you can take The Meg with you wherever you go.
The Meg is a fast-paced, fun-filled thriller, with an amazing cast. Despite the seriousness of the content, the actors manage to make enough light of the impending doom of the seventy-five-foot massive pre-historic shark threatening humanity- and their own lives, so that the audience does not feel the entire movie is doom and gloom. The writing flows and the storyline keeps the audience engaged. The Meg is not your average shark movie nor is it trying to be a remake fo another famous shark movie from many years ago. The Meg holds its own with its unique storyline and is definitely a worthwhile purchase.
Grade: B+
