The Meg (Dir. Jon Turteltaub, 1h 53m)

Much like the original summer blockbuster, Jaws, some 43 years ago, The Meg is a trashy airport novel given a surprisingly good film; needless to say, with their similar themes of vengeful sharks terrorising a group of people, The Meg does bear more than a passing resemblance to Spielberg's film, albeit for a more international demographic, and whilst the former never comes close to the efficient majesty of the latter, The Meg is still a film that it's worth getting your teeth into.

Perhaps, to borrow a page from the book of both low-rent hacks, the Asylum, who drop such wonderfully monikered products as Mega Shark versus Giant Octopus and Mega Shark versus Mecha Shark into our laps like poorly rendered chum, and Syfy, who bring us the impressively ridiculous Sharnado series, a better title for this film would have been Giant Shark versus Jason-Stath. For, Jason Statham, it is he, blesses this otherwise straight-to-video b-movie with his presence, and is, by a giant-shark-length, the best thing in it (the second being the shark itself,).

Playing a former rescue diver brought back into the fold of undersea research facility, Mana One, after a mission to a hidden layer at the bottom of the sea goes wrong, and forced to both battle his personal demons, and the film's titular massive shark, on a lesser actor's shoulders, this could come across as either campy, or corny. On Statham's broad shoulders, (which the film wastes no time in exposing, in an early, and utterly shameless post-shower scene with Statham's Chinese co-star,Suyin (Li Bingbing) all but ogling him), however, there's an inherent solidity to his character-you believe that the motley crew of design wunderkind, Jaxx (Ruby Rose), techie DJ, (Page Kennedy), and Suyin, and her daughter, will get out of any spill because Statham is dependable and tough in the best way action movie heroes are. Statham, for all the typical tropes that accompany his films, is a remarkably likable actor, even as he grimaces, glares and growls through the film

There is also a surprising warmth to Statham as an actor, in a gruff way, and his friendship with Suyin's daughter is surprisingly fleshed out, as is his relationship with his ex-wife. What drives him, however, is his revenge upon the titular shark, which not only killed his friends but fatally damaged his career and caused him to be labelled crazy-there's more than a hint of Ahab in the lengths he'll go to defeat and destroy the shark. The rest of the cast are well rounded, from Suyin, whose coolness under pressure and budding romance with Statham, as well as her resilience as a character, marks her out as a tough and dependable figure in her team, to Jaxx, whose snarky techy is slowly unravelled throughout the film, and the chaos that ensues, to Suyin's daughter, who forms the emotional centre of the film, and who has one of the best scenes, both with Statham, and the shark.

If there's one weak link to the film, it's Rainn Wilson's Elon Musk-ish billionaire who demands results of the team, and who cruelly cuts his ties with the group and sets off to bag the shark himself. He's a rather dull retread of every B-Movie villian who lets money overtake his sense, and needless to say he's offed in suitably over-the-top fashion, not before he leaves our heroes to fend for themselves.

Needless to say, the other star is the shark, who merrily chomps their way through not only a giant squid, and threatens our heroes before they escape to the surface, before following them up, and terrorising Mana One. In one of the best scenes of the film, its appearance at the base is a truly iconic shot, with the Meg looming into scene over Suyin's daughter, mouth wide. From here, the Meg retreads much of every shark movie, with our heroes tracking it, complete with Jaws style fake-out, before our heroes track it down to a crowded beach, and finally defeat it, in impressively violent fashion.

Everything about this shark, much like its film, is enjoyably over-the top, from its first appearance, swinging over the stranded explorers, to its sudden, and dramatic return midway through the picture, rearing out of the water, to its arrival at the beach. Its appearances, sense of dramatic timing, and destructive capabilities put it up there with some of the best non-human villains of cinema, appearing and disappearing with ease, and picking off our heroes one by one.

Even at its most ridiculous, The Meg is an enjoyably uncomplicated, and surprisingly assured (particularly with its shark-pun-based marketing) B-Movie, with a likable bunch of heroes and a hell of a monster for them to combat. It's the perfect epitome of the summer blockbuster

Rating: Recommended