THE MEG Review Round-Up: Is Jason Statham's Giant Shark Movie Worth Sinking Your Teeth Into?

The review embargo has now lifted for The Meg, and after the semi-positive initial reactions we get to find out what the critics really thought of The Stath's seriously silly-looking giant shark flick...

By MarkCassidy - Aug 08, 2018 05:08 PM EST

Filed Under: Horror

You probably already decided whether or not you were going to see The Meg as soon as you heard the premise, but just in case you're still on the fence, we've rounded up some of the first wave of reviews for you below.

The initial reactions were actually quite postive for this one, with many relaying a very fun time at the theater. The full reviews, however, are decidedly more mixed, leaning towards negative.

Though some critics definitely enjoyed the experience of watching Jason Statham take on a huge [frick]ing shark, the general consensus seems to be that, a few moments aside, the movie takes itself too seriously to fall into the "so bad it's good" category, so instead of coming across knowingly bad, it's just... bad.

Have a read through the review excerpts for yourselves and let us know if you plan on checking out The Meg in theaters.

To view the reactions all at once, simply click on the VIEW LIST (ONE PAGE) button below!

Variety:

The Meg” lacks the imagination to be shameless. Directed by the veteran plodder Jon Turteltaub (“National Treasure,” “Phenomenon”), it goes right back to the template of vastly scaled but chintzy ’70s disaster movies: a busy ensemble of instantly scannable and forgettable characters, working (in this case) at an underwater research facility known as Mana One, enmeshed in cardboard dramas we could scarcely care less about.

THR:

Blandly internationalized, generically derivative, drained of any personality, edited as if by computer and bleached of the slightest hint of emotion other than a holiday card-like sympathy for children and allegedly cute animals, The Meg is a one hundred percent inorganic meal, something made from pre-tasted and then regurgitated ingredients. It's true that some people like institutional food, but those allergic to cardboard must steer clear.

Entertainment.ie:

Never anything more or less than what you'd expect, 'The Meg' doesn't bite off any more than it can chew and knows to swim in familiar waters than venture out into uncharted territory. It's safe, it's dependable, it's enjoyable.

Screen Crush:

Like director Jon Turteltaub’s underrated National Treasure movies, The Meg has an innate understanding of its own absurdity, and is at its best when it embraces and amplifies that impulse. It includes the line “It’s a great day to go fishing!” It has a water-bound chase between a tiny dog and a giant shark. It has a scene where a little shark swims out of the mouth of a bigger shark. And, God bless it, it has an entire sequence where Jason Statham and the Meg get into an underwater dogfight.

Screen Rant:

As unabashedly ridiculous as the movie is, one imagines that anyone who's been sold on The Meg since they first learned what it's about - namely, a throw-down between the star of The Transporter trilogy and a 75-foot + long ancient shark - should walk away with a big grin on their face, after seeing it.

Empire:

It may not shock you to hear this, but The Meg — a movie that apparently exists just so people can make jokes about Jason Statham punching a giant shark — is a bad film. Shark. Weak.

EW:

I’ll be honest, The Meg isn’t nearly as good (or as white-knuckle gory) as the movie I had imagined in my head. The CGI is mediocre at best, and a romantic subplot with a single-mom scientist (Li Bingbing) is sentimental hooey. But it is ridiculous, cheesy popcorn fun. And Statham, God bless him, knows exactly what kind of guilty pleasure he’s signed on for.

The Wrap:

Audiences in the mood to be scared will certainly send their popcorn flying during a few tense moments of “The Meg.” But they’ll also wish the movie had bothered to find an equivalent to Robert Shaw’s USS Indianapolis speech in “Jaws.” When the human characters are reduced to chum, it’s hard to care about them getting eaten.

AV Club:

Turteltaub’s direction never suggests that it’s motivated by anything except commercial and contractual considerations. The Meg is lackadaisically paced, dull to look at, and has trouble keeping track of space and plot

Collider

There are some glorious highs in The Meg, and yet you always feel like it could go a little further, be more bonkers, shave off some of the runtime and go a little grislier with the chomping.

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74 Comments

1 2

LNBfett12 - 8/8/2018, 5:34 PM

MOVE OVER INFINITY WAR...WE’RE GETTING TO 3 BILLION WITH THIS FLICK!

GreedoSarducci - 8/8/2018, 8:28 PM

@LNBfett12 - they already have my money. We're seeing the first show tomorrow night.

"And, God bless it, it has an entire sequence where Jason Statham and the Meg get into an underwater dogfight."

That's EXACTLY what we bought our tickets for. Now let's see some shark punching!

TheOtherOn - 8/9/2018, 1:45 PM

@GreedoSarducci - As you wish!

NinnesMBC - 8/8/2018, 5:39 PM

Will watch it next week nevertheless.

Menks123 - 8/8/2018, 5:39 PM

Looks like a fun dumb flick, I’ll see it. Plus, I’m a fan of Statham.

Kevwebsz - 8/8/2018, 5:40 PM

Shocked.

BioTrek - 8/8/2018, 5:55 PM

@Kevwebsz - Sharked

MosquitoFarmer - 8/8/2018, 5:40 PM

The trailers somehow managed to make the movie look more ridiculous than Piranha 3D.

Santanaonfire - 8/8/2018, 7:54 PM

@MosquitoFarmer - Piranha 3D was a hell of a lot of fun, I loved it. Totally self aware of it’s ridiculousnous. It really worked for me.

ccxa - 8/8/2018, 5:41 PM

Remember when Jason Statham bashed superheroe movies because of CGI and said he is never going to star in one? Now he is fighting a giant CGI shark in a B-movie. I guess you gotta pay the bills.

[frick] him.

JK - 8/8/2018, 5:42 PM

No thanks

I don't wish to be scared every time I get in the tub

ATrueHero1987 - 8/8/2018, 5:48 PM

....going to see it Saturday

ChangAlang - 8/8/2018, 5:48 PM

Realistic scenes like this are what I was hoping for

MUTO123 - 8/8/2018, 5:54 PM

I'm gonna try to see it late tomorrow.

MarkCassidy - 8/8/2018, 5:54 PM

I'll watch it online... legally, of course.

https://gph.is/1iJP1su

Floke - 8/8/2018, 11:32 PM

@RorMachine - There was a pirate-themed site, I guess it was Disney, that had so many new movies you could download for free, and when done, you could give it back by uploading it. Must have been some kind of free renting site.

MrCamw1 - 8/8/2018, 5:55 PM

Everytime the trailer popped up in theatres and Jason Statham said the word Megladon I'd be the jackass to bust out laughing.

HeavyMetal4Life - 8/8/2018, 5:56 PM

No shark movie will ever top the first Jaws.

I'll watch this film when its released online.

KingEmperor - 8/8/2018, 6:19 PM

@HeavyMetal4Life
You. I like you. \m/

1 2

THE MEG Review Round-Up: Is Jason Statham's Giant Shark Movie Worth Sinking Your Teeth Into?

The review embargo has now lifted for The Meg, and after the semi-positive initial reactions we get to find out what the critics really thought of The Stath's seriously silly-looking giant shark flick...

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