MOVIE NEWS – Why do these gigantic megalodons have such a tiny effect on the audience?

It’s no wonder that entertainment industry conglomerate Warner Bros. Discovery is so obsessed with creating a tentpole franchise with 2018’s The Meg and last summer’s Meg 2: The Trench and its sequel. The studio side wants to recreate the blockbuster magic of Steven Spielberg’s 1975 classic, The Shark, which created the “summer cinema” experience. The television/streaming site wants to appease the existing fan base with the annual Shark Week event, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year. These conflicting approaches are one of the reasons Meg movies fail to satisfy the hunger of moviegoers who only want sharky treats.

Starring Jason Statham as rescue diver/action man Jonas Taylor, the series follows the work of a team of scientists and billionaires specializing in oceanography, environmental protection and the fight against 75-foot-long megalodons. The first film grossed $530 million from a $130 million budget, while the second film dropped to a still respectable $395 million from roughly the same budget. Despite their financial success, neither Meg nor Meg 2 feels like a good old shark movie, as they fundamentally misunderstand what makes this subgenre work.

Meg misinterpreted shark movies

The 2018 The Meg, directed by Jon Turteltaub (National Treasure franchise), was based on Steve Alten’s novel Meg: The Deepest Horror, and went through development hell by the time it made it to the big screen, the rights to the film were purchased by Disney in 1990. The sci-fi material seemed perfect for a claustrophobic horror thriller in which humans face off against a deadly creature in a deep-sea chess game, echoing the tone of films such as John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982). Instead, The Meg ended up being another clichéd action-adventure with thin characters and not-so-original themes of corporate greed and humanity’s environmentally damaging activities.

Undoubtedly the pinnacle of shark films, The Shark also has plenty of spectacle, especially in the nearly 30-minute man-shark battle of the final act. But the tension of this scene is not provided by the shark itself, but by the audience’s lingering fear that the characters they have become attached to will be eaten by said shark. Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) is a guilt-ridden father unsure if he can protect his family, shark hunter Quint (Robert Shaw) is an eccentric madman whose determination is as terrifying as the shark himself, ocean explorer Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) is a lovable fan who probably knows more about sharks than people. They transcend their characters and feel like relatable people. In The Meg, you can only identify with a selected caricature, to whom one or two attributes/abilities are assigned for the convenience of the plot.

Meg 2 messed everything up even more

The Meg 2. – The Ditch, there was a bit of optimism before the summer release of the film, because it was directed by Ben Wheatley , the transgressive filmmaker behind 2016’s Free Fire and 2021’s In the Land. However, the studio system proved to be an insurmountable obstacle, and the result was essentially a remake of the first film, only with more of everything. More sharks, more deep sea creatures, more civilians for dinner, etc. Actually, the title Megs should have been given instead, considering how many times this word is heard from the mouths of Jonas and his companions.

The first half of Meg 2 evokes and amplifies the environmental themes of its predecessor as Jonas takes on a group of eco-terrorists who are conducting an illegal mining operation in the Mariana Trench, trapping the crew in total darkness beneath the trench’s debris. What should have been a scary scene quickly turns into a bombastic set piece where everyone has to escape an endless series of explosions, megas, mini-megas and a giant octopus. Then comes the second part, where the characters go through it all again, only this time in a residential resort. There is no sustained tension, in fact, the action doesn’t even build as it rushes repetitively from scene to scene at a pace that can only be called ridiculous.

Shark movies are horror movies, not action movies

One of the most famous stories in film history is how often the mechanical sharks used in the movie Shark malfunctioned, prompting Spielberg to rely on the power of cueing and John Williams’ masterful score. There are few moments more iconic in cinema than when Spielberg’s camera floats up to feet kicking on the surface of the ocean as Williams’ soft symphony rumbles to a crescendo. “Megs” doesn’t have to go that far to be fun. All they should do is embrace their B-movie silliness, the way something like 1999’s Deep Blue Sea did so well, but what they do instead is play like a big-budget version of Sharknado; movies that avowedly tell their audience that they’re not even trying to be good.

Warner Bros. Discovery decided to play the safe route and focus on CGI instead of carefully crafted suspense. Yet, even as an action film, it doesn’t have any unique characteristics that distinguish it from any other similar creature blockbuster. Regarding the third installment, Wheatley told TotalFilm that there is “a lot more to explore in that world” and that he hopes to return for another round. Hopefully this time he can convince the studio to add a little more bite to the unfortunately toothless shark movies.

Source: GameRant