Movie reviews are an interesting thing because a review is ultimately only the opinion of a single writer. Here at CinemaBlend, we write reviews, but we also have a lot of other people who have seen the exact same movie and might have very different opinions compared to what gets expressed in the official review. Starting this week we're going to give everybody at CinemaBlend a chance to sound off on the major releases, beginning with The Meg.
First, we'll start with the official CinemaBlend response to the Jason Statham versus a prehistoric shark movie. Senior Movie Contributor Mike Reyes wrote our review and overall he didn't care for The Meg all that much, feeling that, while the film was as dumb as the premise implied, it wasn't nearly as much fun as it should have been.
In the process of attempting to make The Meg a movie full of stupid fun, they forgot to have fun, but stayed square in the lane of stupid.
For the most part, however, Mike is actually an outlier when it comes to The Meg. While Events Editor Eric Eisenberg admits that he found the film somewhat lacking, he overall did enjoy it, embracing it for the fun summer popcorn movie that it was.
The Meg is real stupid fun. I wouldn't say it's everything I wanted it to be, but Jason Statham remains one of my favorite action stars, and there is an on-point self-awareness.
From there, however, we get into the editors who fully enjoyed the movie without any exceptions. Staff reporter Conner Schwerdtfeger felt that The Meg's strength came from the fact that it doesn't try to be too ridiculous, but knows just how much it can get away with.
I can honestly say that I really enjoyed it. It's legitimately well-executed in its tension and action scenes and it 100% knows what type of movie it is without resorting to dumb Sharknado levels of stupidity. Perfect late summer film.
News Director Jessica Rawden also found plenty to enjoy in The Meg. While the premise absolutely feels like something out a B-movie, Jessica says it's one of the best B-movies out there.
The Meg has everything. A cool underwater home base. A precocious kid. Jason Statham taking himself very seriously. And, of course the Meg itself, a prehistoric shark that makes its way to the ocean's surface where it takes on our heroes and heroines. Overall, it's either an A+ B-movie or a B+ A-Movie, but either way you look at it, it's a blast.
Jessica's sentiments are largely echoed by Managing Director Sean O'Connell, who doesn't apologize, even a little, for enjoying The Meg completely. There are clearly differening opinions here about whether The Meg tries to be a serious action movie or an over-the-top spectacle. Sean argues that The Meg actually walks the line between the two with surprising deftness.
The Meg delivers everything that you want out of a 'Jason Statham versus a Giant Shark' movie, so if you are paying for that ticket, you won't leave disappointed. In addition, I'd argue that the movie walks the proper line between goofy creature spoof and serious scientists-in-peril, staging a handful of pulse-racing underwater set pieces that had more tension and chills than like-minded summer blockbusters. This isn't even a guilty pleasure, it's just plain fun.
My own opinion probably falls most in line with Sean's. I loved how the movie took itself seriously, without forcing the audience to try and take the movie seriously. That's a difficult tone to reach which many summer blockbusters, even this year, have failed to achieve.
And so, while the CinemaBlend review gives The Meg 2.5 stars out of five, most of the rest of Team CinemaBlend appears have liked it more than that. It just goes to show that opinions always vary among people. You can form your opinion on The Meg in theaters now.
