Entertainment
Jason Statham’s 2-Part Action Series is Quietly One of the Best Thrillers Streaming on HBO Max
Few stars are more associated with action movies than Jason Statham. The British actor has built a decades-long career in the genre by frequently portraying grizzled, hardened protagonists in a variety of occupations, including “beekeeper” and “mechanic.” In 2018, he was able to add “scuba diver” and “shark killer” to that list of on-screen careers with the release of The Meg. An American and Chinese co-production, The Meg swam to massive international box office success upon its release and is one of the most entertaining films currently available on streaming.
The Meg follows a team of Chinese and American scientists funded by eccentric billionaire Jack Morris (Rainn Wilson) who are attacked by a prehistoric shark called a Megalodon while exploring the Mariana Trench. Expert diver Jonas Taylor (Statham) is recruited to rescue the scientists and kill the Megalodon, or “meg”, before it can attack the nearby human population. The film’s success spawned a sequel, Meg 2: The Trench (2023), where Statham reprized his role and must fight for survival against not just one megalodon but three, in addition to other creatures from the deep. With a reliable star, fast-paced plots, and big action, The Meg film series has all the necessities to be your next movie night binge.
‘The Meg’ and ‘Meg 2: The Trench’ Are Wild Rides for Viewers
Murphy’s law famously states “what can go wrong will go wrong,” and The Meg takes that adage to extremes, ensuring viewers never know what’s coming next. No matter what situation Jonas and the scientists find themselves in, things always seem to go from bad to worse. The scientists’ submarine is attacked by the meg during their dive, trapping them underwater. Jonas is sent to rescue the scientists, but one of them dies in the process. And when Jonas, his love interest, scientist Suyin Zhang (Li Bingbing), and the rest of the team finally fight back and kill the meg, a second meg comes out of the depths and kills more of the crew. These events might spell disaster for the characters, but they’re certainly fun for the audience to watch as they get to see how Jonas and the other characters will make it out of their latest life-or-death scenario.
Meg 2: The Trench is similarly full of unexpected plot developments on an even bigger scale. After the death of Suyin, Jonas has adopted her daughter Meiying (Sophia Cai) and raises her with Suyin’s brother, Jiuming (Wu Jing). The family goes on another exploratory dive and discovers an unsanctioned mining operation led by a mercenary named Montes (Sergio Peris-Mencheta), who sets off an explosion to cover up his illegal activities and damages Jonas’ submersible in the process. Jonas and the team must then use special suits to walk across the ocean floor to an escape vessel, but an attack by a meg, as well as new creatures referred to as “Snappers”, and a betrayal by one of their own results in the deaths of almost the entire crew. Jonas, Meiying, Siuying, and the only other survivor, Mac (Cliff Curtis), do make it to the surface, but so do multiple megs and even a giant octopus thanks to the explosion set off by Montes. The best thrillers keep people on the edge of their seats with twists and turns, and Meg 2 does just that, picking off its cast one by one in the style of the best slasher-thrillers and constantly escalating the already impossible odds that demands to be seen to be believed.
The Action in ‘The Meg’ Series is Ridiculous—And That’s A Good Thing
When Jason Statham is the lead in an action film, it’s guaranteed to be exciting, and he certainly delivers in The Meg and Meg 2 with some of the most delightfully outlandish feats of his career. The first film’s climax sees Statham driving his submersible directly at the meg before stabbing it with a knife, using the knife as a handhold, and then driving a harpoon into the meg’s eye in midair—all with his bare hands. In the sequel, Statham one-ups himself by going after the megs on a jetski while simultaneously being shot at by mercenaries from the mining operation. He once again uses a harpoon, this time to launch bombs at the megs, until he is forced ashore, where he then uses a helicopter propeller to fatally stab the remaining shark. Are these scenes implausible? Highly. Would a marine biologist recommend this approach? Probably not. But is it highly entertaining? Absolutely. This is the kind of big, ridiculous action that one can only find in films like the Fast and Furious franchise (which Statham also stars in) where the cast and crew are willing to lean in to the absurd and just have fun with it, which in turn lets the audience do the same. While this type of action may not be for everyone, it can’t be denied that it’s incredibly entertaining to watch, whether the audience is smiling along with it or laughing at it.
Furthermore, action sequences like these set The Meg and Meg 2 apart from other shark movies. The franchise never claims to be the next Jaws, and it doesn’t try to be; these movies carve out their own niche in the genre thanks to their over-the-top approach. The Sharknado franchise may have gotten the head start on the comedic possibilities of shark movies, but the action is nowhere near the blockbuster level that The Meg films can provide. Many movies with sharks feature scenes where the human characters must fight off the ocean’s best predators, but The Meg and Meg 2 are some of the very few movies that can provide that thrill without being serious or scary. There are plenty of fish in the sea, but there are only two like The Meg, and they’re well worth a watch.
- Release Date
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August 10, 2018
- Runtime
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113 minutes
- Director
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Jon Turteltaub
- Writers
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Erich Hoeber, Jon Hoeber, Dean Georgaris, Steve Alten
- Producers
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Belle Avery, Colin Wilson, Lorenzo di Bonaventura
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