The mother of all sharks in ‘The Meg’ will make you rethink going to the beach

The filmmakers are leaving no stone unturned to ensure the movie is not only captivating but also traumatising for us.

Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror, a science fiction horror novel penned by Steve Alten and published back in 1997, was a hit amongst avid sci-fi readers. A movie based on the novel has been in development hell since 1997, but the time has finally arrived for Meg to take over the big screen.

The movie adaptation, titled The Meg, stars Jason Statham as Jonas Taylor, along with Li Bingbing (Resident Evil: Retribution), Rainn Wilson (The Office), and Ruby Rose (John Wick: Chapter 2).

Meg is short for Megalodon, a prehistoric 75 feet long shark which is said to have gone extinct around 23 to 2.6 million years ago. But did it really?

Photo: IMDb

The trailer kicks off with a child playing with a toy in the glassed corridors of a deep sea vessel, when she notices a huge shark almost breaking the glass exterior with its large jaw and razor-like teeth. Researchers soon realise they are up against a Megalodon, and that the assumption of the shark being extinct was not true after all.

Photo: Screenshot

The trailer shows off some breathtaking views of the deepest portions of the sea and some rare aquatic life forms.

In one spectacular scene, the Megalodon is seen eating a large squid. The shark soon abandons the deep parts of the sea and wanders nearer to the coast of China. The scene where Meg goes berserk in a crowd of people, who have been scared out of their living daylights after seeing this humongous and frightening creature, is ironically a treat to watch.

Photo: Screenshot

Photo: Screenshot

Statham seems like the right guy to take down this mother of all sharks. He has all the prerequisites: the agility, the strength, the brains as well as the star power to do such a movie successfully. In one particular scene, Statham is all locked and loaded to take the shark head on, while riding some sort of a midget submarine.

Photo: IMDb

Wilson plays Jack Morris, another marine researcher, and has some hilarious quips directed at Statham as well as the general bizarreness of the situation. At one point he suggests they do not kill the shark and instead put a tracker on it, just like they do on Shark Week.

Although the trailer has been met with a mixed reception, with fans of the novel complaining the filmmakers have diverted from the actual source material, the trailer does make the movie seem like a lot of fun.

What adds to its sheer awesomeness is the fact the movie has a high production value, with around $150 million spent on it. Most movies featuring sharks are low-budget affairs, but the executives at Warner Brothers are leaving no stone unturned to ensure the audience is completely captivated, mesmerised but also frightened and traumatised by this movie and its big toothed creature.

The Meg will hit theatres on August 10, 2018.