The Meg (2018)

An underwater research facility is exploring the deepest portion of the Mariana trench when a submersible is attacked by an unknown creature. There is only one man (Jason Statham) who has the ability to save them because he's the only one who's encountered the creature before. Based on the novel MEG: A NOVEL OF DEEP TERROR by Steve Alten and directed by Jon Turteltaub (WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING). This is the kind of movie that you know is crap but you enjoy it anyway. The film doesn't really kick into high gear until about 45 minutes into the movie and then it's pretty intense although still as dumb as a rock. It's not the kind of movie where the acting matters which is good since it's badly acted although it's a toss up to which is worse, the acting or the trite (and I'm being nice here) screenplay. The dialog is pretty lame ("A living fossil ate my friend") whether it's being serious or attempting humor. The characters are ciphers so you don't care who's gobbled up and the movie sets it up so you can tell who's next. It focuses unnaturally on a character for a bit too long and you think, "Uh-oh! He's gonna get it next" and sure enough, the thought is barely out when they get gobbled up. The film rights were acquired in 1996 but the project was dropped when they couldn't come up with a decent screenplay. The mind shudders how bad those scripts must have been if this screenplay was deemed acceptable. With Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson (dreadful), Ruby Rose, Winston Chao, Jessica McNamee and Page Kennedy.