Look, if the prospect of seeing Jason Statham go to war with a prehistoric super-shark doesn’t have you sweating with anticipation, then you don’t know compelling cinema. While it won’t be the talk of awards season next year, except maybe the Razzies, The Meg has got brainless blockbuster written all over it, and we couldn’t be more ecstatic about it.
Earlier this week, Warner Bros. unleashed the first trailer for Jon Turteltaub’s action horror pic, and it delivered the teeth and testosterone. Now, the studio has smelt the blood in the water and has gone in for the kill, releasing an international preview for the adaptation of Steve Alten’s New York Times bestselling book. It doesn’t feature a whole lot of new footage, but there is a bit and it definitely dives deeper into the film’s plot.
Let’s face it, summer isn’t the same without an excellent subaquatic fright flick, whether it be Steven Spielberg’s trendsetting 1975 release Jaws, Alexander Aja’s nauseatingly gory Piranha 3D, or Jaume Collet-Serra’s surprisingly sturdy The Shallows. For some reason, we love watching man-eating marine life do the deed, namely chomping on a chunk of human viscera, and in that regard, The Meg looks like it’ll deliver.
Initially said to be Eli Roth’s to direct, the filmmaker opted to pass for the Bruce Willis-led Death Wish. And while we’ve yet to see the Jason Statham-led shark attack movie, I can honestly say that just by weighing reactions to Death Wish, it probably wasn’t a wise decision on Roth’s part.
The Meg is scheduled to bring the blockbuster season to a close on August 10th. Before then, however, WB will no doubt drop at least a few more tantalizing previews and once they do, we’ll be sure to let you know.