Shocked no one has thrown up a review for this yet, as I know several SS'ers have seen it and enjoyed it.

I've been waiting for this movie for about 20 years, ever since I read the Steve Alten novel, first released in 1997.  Rumors have run rampant about a filmed version and Millions of dollars have changed hands in trying to adopt the novel to the big screen.  But time after time, the development stalled and rights were reverted back to Alten again.

The problems were the budget necessary to turn this into the awesome flick it could be, as well as the numerous cheapo ripoffs (many from the Asylum) that turned the concept into a joke almost.

Well, they finally figured out a way to bring this to life with an estimated budget of $130 Million to $175 Million, and an additional $140 Million on advertisements and prints, meaning a $400 Million WWBO will be necessary...but don't fret, as it's already sitting at over $320 Million.

The creative genius here was to market the film to both Americans and Chinese, with the film set in China and a ton of Chinese actors and extras, and a bunch subtitles of Chinese dialogue.

So, does it work?  Is it worth the 20 year wait?

Well, I enjoyed it quite a bit and the shark effects are top notch, with scenes you have to see to believe.  I saw it in 3D and IMO, it was 1 of the better looking 3D films I've ever seen.

For me, it tried to hard to be a tent pole film for the masses with lots of 1 liners and comedic attempts, in times of true terror and peril, but I understand why the veered away from an R rating and more real horror (which is why Eli Roth parted ways as Director).

You know, the bottom line is that this film is exactly what it is and you can love it or hate it for that.  Personally, I "almost" loved it, but am so happy I saw it in the theater, in 3D, the way it's meant to be enjoyed.

Grade - B+

Saw it last night in 3D and thought it was big dumb fun... and it wasn't trying to be anything other than that, so I enjoyed it.

This was loads of fun. Love me some ridiculous shark movies, whether they're Asylum or not. The special effects surprised me with this one, wasn't expecting it to be as high of quality as it was. Unfortunately everyone and their mom in the movie theater decided it was the perfect movie to talk through. People are so inconsiderate.

Quoted from Zombie Sean Unfortunately everyone and their mom in the movie theater decided it was the perfect movie to talk through. People are so inconsiderate.

Dude, I feel your pain.  I saw this with 1 other guy way behind me and it was SILENT...just the way I like it.

I usually try and wait for at least a week to see movies, and always go on the 1st showing of the day.  I want it quiet and as few peeps as possible.  I'm lucky, as I work from home and can see movies, go to the gym, run errands, whenever I feel like it.

I hope this movie continues to do well, as there are many sequels, in terms of ALten's novels, and the next one is a fun one for sure!

This movie has really been talked about for years. I think I remember rumors around 2005 that it was gonna get made, then nothing happened. Jan De Bont was gonna direct it. I remember a lot of posts about it on the bloody-disgusting website. It was on IMDB for years. Finally, it happened. I plan on watching it soon, however, I have very low expectations.

Caught it opening weekend. I wouldn't say I was impressed, but it was better than expected and I had a good time. No regrets.

I do think they played it a little too safe, though. I'm no fan of the PG-13 rating (surprise, surprise), but it wasn't so much gore that was lacking as much as sheer body count, where I don't expect rating is as much of a factor. There's a particular set piece front and center in the trailer that promises dozens of deaths based on the logistics alone, which simply does not deliver where numbers are concerned. The film also isn't nearly as dumb as the trailer would suggest, which is unfortunate since "dumb" seems to have been the marketing campaign's selling point.

Nevertheless, I felt I owned it to myself to check this out solely for its status as a shark movie, namely an expensive one intended for mass appeal. Generally, this is a bargain bin genre, which has always been strange to me given the appeal of sharks in general. On that front, it delivered. The shark and suspense sequences were impressive, and it felt good to know that clearly folks spent a lot of time, effort, and money on it all for a change.

We all remember how outstanding Jaws was,and then, for most of us, we finally got around to reading Peter Benchley's novel that it was adapted from, and...man, they REALLY changed a lot of stuff around. But the legendary transcended the book in many ways. Some of out best loved scenes in the film, and even the best loved dialog isn't in the book.

With Meg, a lot of folks have read the novel before seeing the film. and man, they REALLY changed a lot of stuff around. ;D But its adaptation, and things have to be changed. I get that. But like jaws, the changes have to serve the story and make sense.

Overall, I enjoyed Meg, but the film literally stops in pace just to crack a lame self aware joke usually uttered by Page Kennedy, the stereotypical evil businessman played by Rainn Wilson  (yawn)  and, for reasons that I cannot explain, the motivation for Taylor (Statham) to go rescue his ex wife Lori ut spends little time with her as he becomes a Love Thang. for  Suyin Zhang. Hey, if you get Jason statam and Li Bingbing, well, yeah, two good lookin people, lets get em wild n wild.  :P

But what bugged me the most was whenever a character points an accusing finger at Stathams Taylor...

Quoted Text How DARE you leave people behind to die!!

Boooooo...booooooo...boooooo...

But the positives outweigh the negatives ,from shark action (and the marketing taking full advantage of Shark week on Discovery Channel was a no brainer) to some well one work by supporting actors (specifically the surprise of Ruby Rose) and the fairly good writing regarding the kid who wasn't annoying.

I think the film said (jokingly) Fin" at the end, suggesting The end, but y'know with thebox office its getting, and the fact that there is more books, it would not be a total surprise if we got a Meg II.

Believe it or not, I read the novel, Jaws, before seeing it in the theater.  In fact, I read it on a family vacation to Florida, so I was quite worried about swimming in the ocean.

I also read Meg when it first came out and absolutely loved it, even though Alten can't write believable dialogue to save his life.  What Alten can and did do, is write great action sequences, but most of them were not in the movie version.

I'm very happy for Alten, as I know he was very, very pissed off about how long this took to make it to the big screen, and and how money he was expecting never materialized, as I actually contacted him many years ago, asking about updates on the movie version, and he not only replied, but spoke very openly about how things went down.

Bring on Meg 2!!!!!

This movie is doing surprisingly well at the BO. I wouldn't be surprised if it clears 600 mil WW.

It's at $370 Million, but I don't see much over $550 Million total.

We will see!!!!

It's at 465$ mil now. This number isn't updated for the past week with Chinese money. When that update happens its gonna get a bump to 500. Plus the movie has yet to open in markets like Japan.

I honestly thought this movie was gonna make around 300$ mil WW. Despite the bad reviews, people apparently wanted to see a shark spectacle.

Quoted Text I do think they played it a little too safe, though. I'm no fan of the PG-13 rating (surprise, surprise), but it wasn't so much gore that was lacking as much as sheer body count, where I don't expect rating is as much of a factor. There's a particular set piece front and center in the trailer that promises dozens of deaths based on the logistics alone, which simply does not deliver where numbers are concerned.

That was probably my only gripe of the movie. As you said, they played off the idea that this shark was gonna eat a bunch of people, and I was hoping for some "Piranha 3D" action when the Meg was approaching the beach with the crowds of people. But it mostly just knocked off a bunch of people from those floating decks. It almost chewed up that group of people (the one that included the little chubby boy), and I was rooting all for it, but then they had to go and play the whale sounds to distract it away from what could've been a good man-eating scene.

Oh well. That's just me being horror, gore-loving me. Still had a lot of fun watching this.

This movie opened with 5 mil in Japan. I was way off with my prediction that it might hit 600.

Anyway, I saw the movie. This felt like a late 90s movie to me. I didn't like it. Thought it was dumb and overly cliched. Some cringe-worthy stuff with whether Jason Statham's character was crazy or not. Showing stupid video of him say - I'm not crazy! Them trying to lure him back in, the ex-wife part. - Oh my god, he was right!

I like how in one radio interview they asked Jason Statham about the film and what he thought of it, he said - "just another fuckin' movie.'

I'm sticking with my earlier projection of just under $550 Million WW, which ain't bad!!

Gave this a crack last night, and I fell asleep at some point; something I almost never do. I will return to finish it later today.

It is what it is. Bad throwaway lines, bad attempts at humour. Very repetitive sequences. It’s definitely not scary in any way, and I don’t really think it’s trying to be.

The acting is what you’d expect for the cast involved.

I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone I know, but this kind of film will always have its followers.

EDIT:

Finished this off. It pretty much goes from bad to worse culminating in an utterly cringe-worthy ending.

SPOILERS

It makes several attempts to make you care about characters and a dog that are pointless. It’s hard enough caring about any of the main cast.

Any chance it has to add drama or tension is quickly blown off with a stupid one-liner.

The Meg looks pretty good, that’s about it.

I hate one-liners. I definitely will not be wasting any of my time watching this film... not even if it's on Netflix.