The Meg (2018)
August 12, 2018 2:29 PM - Subscribe

They were a bit bitey
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace (20 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Shark #1: Just about acceptably large
Shark #2: Absolute unit
Cute kid: Somehow not annoying, somehow actually cute
Statham: Knew what kind of movie he was in
Being PG-13 in the US: Actually acceptable given the tone the movie was going for?

Definitely crap, but good crap. Not up to Paul WS Anderson levels of good crap, but still.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 2:33 PM on August 12, 2018 [5 favorites]


I liked the part with the big shark.

It was actually WAY better than I thought it was going to be. Definitely good crap. Great cast helped enormously.
posted by biscotti at 2:45 PM on August 12, 2018 [2 favorites]


Highlight: Dude in the hamster ball.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 2:46 PM on August 12, 2018 [1 favorite]


Hah, I saw the hamster ball in the trailer and I was all, "so it's going to be this kind of party."
posted by rhizome at 3:05 PM on August 12, 2018 [5 favorites]


The MEG in a FPP.

Hands down my absolute favorite part of this movie, which I mention in the above thread, is when they need to get closer to the lil Meg to put the tracker on it and Zhang says, "he's already proven himself aggressive toward boats."

It's a line that's going to stick with me for a long, long time and probably see use in my daily life, as a reference that literally no one else will ever get.


It was better than the book.
posted by phunniemee at 4:22 PM on August 12, 2018 [8 favorites]


It's a line that's going to stick with me for a long, long time and probably see use in my daily life, as a reference that literally no one else will ever get.

I've already caught myself thinking that the vallhunds have proven themselves aggressive towards bunnies. By killing four of them.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 4:28 PM on August 12, 2018


It was better than the book.

When I heard this movie was based on a book and not just a single book but a series of books I thought I might have suffered a stroke.
posted by Ashwagandha at 4:43 PM on August 12, 2018 [7 favorites]


I was in public when I heard about the book series so thankfully had people around to pick me up and shake me back into consciousness.
posted by phunniemee at 4:50 PM on August 12, 2018 [9 favorites]


Hats off to Harry Gregson-Williams for completely ripping off the Jaws theme at a couple of points.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:01 AM on August 13, 2018


This isn’t normally something I’d go to the theater for, but my son was dying to see it, so we went. And it was okay! Surprisingly not annoying. I really appreciate that it didn’t try to be something more than what it is. It set a low goal and nailed it.

AAAA++++ would watch once.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 8:05 PM on August 16, 2018


So it turns out that Jason Statham doesn't actually punch the shark. Did he even punch anybody?
posted by RobotHero at 8:23 PM on August 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


I mean, it still feels like the movie delivered what you expect, even if he didn't literally punch the shark.
posted by RobotHero at 9:14 PM on August 16, 2018 [2 favorites]


I don’t know if this is entirely appropriate to post here, as I haven’t seen the movie, but I think it fits. Last Friday I went to the classroom of my sister, a third-grade teacher, to talk about jobs in STEM. When it got to Q & A time, I fielded 30 minutes of questions about the “science” of The Meg. Regardless of the veracity of the movie, it really made 20 3rd graders very curious about marine biology and the ocean all together.

I hope at least one of those kids keep up their curiocity about the great deep.
posted by lizjohn at 8:02 PM on August 19, 2018 [3 favorites]


He punched the shark with a spear.
posted by maxsparber at 3:56 PM on September 10, 2018 [1 favorite]


I mean, it still feels like the movie delivered what you expect, even if he didn't literally punch the shark.

Before spearing it, he does go after and stab the shark with his dive knife. Statham is the only person who can get away with bringing a knife to a Meg fight.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 1:11 PM on November 16, 2018 [3 favorites]


Fine, I guess I'll have to watch it again to properly list all the armed shark combat that Statham engages in.
posted by RobotHero at 3:31 PM on November 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


Was it the greatest movie of all time? Not necessarily. Did I enjoy it way more than I expected to? Yes. Am I a sucker for Jason Statham movies? TBD. The one where he was a heroin addict who karatied for justice, the one where he drove fast, the one where he was Parker, the one where they steal weeed, the one the one where he was Handsome Rob? I'm onboard.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 10:14 PM on November 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


SO they have started filming the sequel, which appears to be based on the book sequel _The Trench_.

A commenter on darkstar is hoping that this time they stick closer to the book and don't abandon the semi-intellectual tone of the books.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:39 AM on February 4, 2022


The sequel is being directed by Ben Wheatley, one of the more fascinating directors in modern horror (Kill List, A Field in England). He doesn't have a perfect batting average as sometimes he swings and misses (High Life, for one) but he's terrifically gifted and may end up knocking it out of the park.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 4:16 PM on July 15, 2023


Whoops, High Rise was the movie I meant to say there.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:53 PM on July 15, 2023


« Older Bokudake ga Inai Machi: On Net...   |  Star Trek: Enterprise: Broken ... Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments

poster