The Meg (2018)

Le parfait film pop-corn un soir d’été, les pieds dans l’eau

Ce n’était qu’une question de temps avant que Jason Statham veuille prendre possession des océans. Faisant face à un requin géant, on pouvait espérer des effusions de sang dans une démesure typiquement hollywoodienne. Si le film n’est pas une révélation, il aura le mérite d’être idéal pour une soirée pop-corn a barbotter dans l’eau. Parce qu’on le sait, le public ciblé est large, notamment lorsqu’il s’agit d’une collaboration entre les US et la Chine.

En Eaux Troubles (The Meg) ne prend pas de risques et reste sur une base simple afin de séduire son public. Peut-on lui en vouloir ? Cela dépendra de ce qu’on attendait de lui. Ainsi pas de mare de sang (dommage), pas de scènes trop violentes (encore dommage). Certes, on n’attendait pas vraiment un Piranha version Mégalodon d’Alexandre Aja, mais peut-être un peu plus qu’un petit saignement.

Cependant, le film est visuellement bon (notamment les scènes sous l’eau qui sont bien agréables), bien qu’on note un manque de tension. Jon Turteltaub décide de ne pas trop tarder pour nous montrer la grosse bête qui est réussite.

En revanche, on ne pourra que pointer du doigt les personnages qui semblent incapables de montrer un soupçon d’émotions. Personne ne semble effrayé par l’attaque d’un requin préhistorique de plus de 20 mètres. Les pertes humaines sont rapidement balayées sous le tapis. Aucun ambiance particulière ne se dégage, même lors des scènes d’action. L’humour n’a même pas atteint le premier étage, sans parler de la pseudo-romance inutile.

En bref, c’est un bon divertissement qui ne se tarde pas d’être révolutionnaire. Les personnages sont des clichés, l’enchaînement est sans surprise et certains dialogues sont même prévisibles. Cela dit, il répond à sa nature première : divertir.

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"Pleased to eat you!"

If you decide to watch The Meg because of the tagline, "Pleased to eat you!" you probably already know to check your brain at the door because you are about to be swamped with clichéd characters and plot and ridiculous pseudo-science. Most of the CGI and cinematography were quality which helped when the dialogue tried to drown the fun of a massive Megalodon or two set loose from the Mariana Trench!

Starring Jason Statham, you know he's going to have to go mano y pectoral fin with the giant 90ft/27m shark at some point in time. Jonas is the lone diver who can attempt a rescue at over 11,000ft/3300m depth and he's off in Thailand drinking his sorrows away. He'd attempted a rescue five years earlier of a sub trapped in the Trench and had to abandon some of his men when the sub was attacked by a giant creature. Even though he saved numerous lives he was branded as having had a psychological breakdown for the story he told. When his ex-wife and crew become stranded at the bottom of the Trench, an old teammate comes calling to talk him into rescuing her.

The characters were stock characters, shallow with little personality. Li Bing Bing was weighed down in the Stereotypical Headstrong Female Scientist role who thought Statham's Jonas was crazy and treated him as such until she was rescued by him numerous times as he snatched her out of the jaws of death. She had a Wise Beyond Her Years Daughter who helped to lead the two divorced people to a romance. The rest of the crew included the Egotistical Billionaire, Tough Chick, Black Guy Who Can't Swim (really?!?), Scientist Bestie, Jerk Doctor, Dad With a Target On His Back, and a couple of other scientists. Honestly, with the exception of a couple of characters, none of them were developed enough to make me care whether they lived or became chum. One of the early deaths was actually emotional and done well, after that it was bring on the shark!

The science was particularly awful without any conception of the forces at work on submersibles and the people in them at the deepest depths of the ocean. And one scene that was supposed to be frightening had me laughing until I could barely breathe. Seriously, that little boat they used was tough if they could lasso a megalodon using it! Also, every time the script called for Statham to have to dive into the water to face the big fish to show his courage was hilarious.

If you watch this movie, you need to know that there aren't any award-winning performances, in fact, some are particularly bad. The science is dreadful. The dialogue can be cringe-worthy. When numerous people are threatened the stakes don't feel very high because we don't know anyone, even the people from the main crew who fall into the water every five minutes. If you can set all that aside, it is a fun movie with the ginormous sharks seeking to turn back the clock about 10 million years when they ruled the oceans.

9/13/23

Edit--I bumped the score up .5 because I enjoyed it more than the sequel although the sequel had better acting. This one had me laughing more.

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