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THE MEG

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What You Need To Know:

In THE MEG, a group of scientists explore the deepest parts of the ocean off the Chinese coast. When they discover a hidden underwater world, with creatures previously thought extinct, they grow excited. However, their excitement is short lived when a giant prehistoric, 90-foot megalodon shark attacks them and escapes the hidden world they’ve just unlocked. Now, with a megalodon shark on the loose, the scientists call on deep sea diver Jonas, played by Jason Statham, to help them.

THE MEG is an often goofy, but mostly fun adventure. It doesn’t have the craftmanship of JAWS and doesn’t hide the fact that the plot is hokey. However, if viewers just look for laughs and thrills, they shouldn’t be disappointed. THE MEG has a positive message of heroism and bravery. The hero, Jonas, has a reputation of not being able to save everyone, and some consider him to be cowardly. Jonas proves, however, that he does care about saving everyone, and frequently puts his life in danger to save others. THE MEG does have some foul language and scary moments, so caution is advised.

Content:

(BB, C, FR, Ev, Acap, LL, VV, S, N, M)

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:
Strong moral worldview, with redemptive elements, promoting heroism, bravery, and sacrifice, plus an image of a Buddhist statue, some light evolution references and references to “Mother Nature” knowing what she’s doing, and light anti-capitalist bent with the billionaire funding the research being portrayed as a greedy coward;

Foul Language:
16 obscenities and five profanities (including one GD and one use of Jesus);

Violence:
Moderate violence, with giant shark swallowing people whole, biting whales and other animals in half, attack vessels that result in humans being stabbed and injured, a severed arm is pulled out of the water, lots of peril and jeopardy, and many people die;

Sex:
Some light sexual innuendoes as there’s some longing looks between two characters, plus two men make a sexual joke when a scientist says the word “penetration”;

Nudity:
Upper male nudity with man in a bath towel, a scene takes place on a beach with many people in swimsuits;

Alcohol Use:
Drinking, and implied drunkenness;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:
No smoking or drugs; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:
Some cowardice ends badly;

More Detail:

THE MEG is a science fiction action movie about a group of scientists who accidently unleash a megalodon shark from the depths of the ocean.

Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) is a rescue diver and the only living person who’s executed a rescue under water below 10,000 meters. During the last rescue he performed, his vessel was attacked by something deep within the ocean, and Jonas had to abandon two of his friends in order to save everyone else. This loss haunts Jonas. He gives up deep water rescues, and his reputation is shot because no one believes his tale about a creature that can destroy subs.

Five years later, a state-of-the-art ocean research facility off the coast of China is preparing to explore crevices in the ocean others didn’t even know existed. The research is funded by billionaire Jack Morris (Rain Wilson), but the head scientist is Dr. Minway Zhang, who’s aided by his daughter Suyin who lives on the facility with her young daughter, Meiying. Dr. Zhang hypothesizes that the deepest part of the ocean, which they thought was solid ground, is actually a bunch of gases hiding a whole other underwater world.

A team of three people in a submarine submerge through the gas and happily discover that Dr. Zhang was completely right. It’s not long before they’re attacked by the megalodon shark, a 70-90 foot beast that can destroy anything in the water. The team become stranded at the bottom of the ocean and are losing air.

Up above at the research facility, James Mackreides knows the only person that can rescue them is his old friend Jonas. He knows he’ll be able to convince Jonas to help because Jonas’s ex-wife is among the three stranded people.

Jonas shows up just in time, but what they discover is that by exploring that part of the ocean, they disrupted the gasses that were keeping the megalodon from being released. Now, the meg is out and is ready to destroy and kill and everything in its path.

THE MEG is an often goofy, but mostly fun adventure. It doesn’t have the craftmanship of JAWS, and the movie doesn’t hide the fact that the plot is hokey. At one point, the billionaire Morris, played by the very funny Rainn Wilson who many know as Dwight on the hit show THE OFFICE, makes a suggestion that they should shoot the meg with a tracker and then asks, “Haven’t you guys watched Shark Week?”

For the most part, the cast’s chemistry never really develops, and the dialogue that tries to be serious and somber is extremely forced. However, if viewers go in only looking for laughs and thrills, they shouldn’t be disappointed. The meg is a worthy villain. Able to bite a humpback whale in half and swim at incredible speeds, the creature will have viewers jumping out of their seats, especially if they already live with a fear of the water.

THE MEG has a positive message of heroism and bravery. The hero, Jonas, has a reputation of not being able to save everyone, and some consider him to be a coward. Jonas proves, however, that he does care about saving everyone, and frequently puts his life in danger to save others. THE MEG does have some foul language and scary moments, so caution is advised for viewers.

Thanks to the SHARKNADO series on the SyFy channel, the shark genre has become somewhat of a joke since no one has been able to match Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece JAWS. THE MEG falls more in line with recent giant creature flicks like PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING or RAMPAGE. Happily, it manages to be more exciting and more scary than those movies, despite the weak writing. Many teenagers and adults may enjoy this popcorn flick, so long as that’s all they expect from it.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


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