First there was Jaws, followed by its three progressively disappointing sequels. The last of which Michael Caine defended with: “I have never seen it, but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house it built, and it is terrific.”

Then there was the surprise hit of 2016 The Shallows which, with the scantily clad Blake Lively going head to head with a great white shark, was a sort of aquatic Beauty and the Beast.

And now, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, comes The Meg, short for the humongous prehistoric shark Megalodon (meaning “big tooth”), which is unintentionally released from the murky depths of the Pacific Ocean after a partially successful rescue mission creates a “super highway” to the surface.

Speaking of surface, we need to talk about Jason. Sure, he’s no Roy Scheider. And his films are unlikely to engage the mind, let alone stir the heart. But his one-dimensionality is symptomatic of so much of what is underwhelming about director Jon Turteltaub’s take on Steve Alten’s 1997 novel of the same which unlike the waters off the Chinese seaside resort of Sanya Bay lacks depth.

For a film which commanded a budget of approximately $150m, the visual set-pieces lack the wow factor. Dramatic tension is in short supply. And the frequent comedic exchanges feel shoe-horned into the paper-thin plot and jar with the life-and-death situation faced by Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham as Jason Statham) whose killer one-liner “Chew on this you ugly bastard” is, like the film, a watered-down version of Rob Scheider’s “Smile, you son of a bitch.”

Director: Jon Turteltaub
Writers: Dean Georgaris (screenplay by), Jon Hoeber (screenplay by)
Stars: Jason Statham, Bingbing Li, Rainn Wilson
Peter Callaghan
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