‘The Meg’ is as entertaining and campy as any remake based on a huge success is; in that you’ll enjoy seeing it for what it reminds you of but then you’ll be irritated by its lack of living up to the goal you undoubtedly set for it. Here, you’re looking for that other film, I’m obviously speaking of ‘Jaws,’ and what you get is a cheap knockoff. I say that because what bothered me most was Meg, herself. Speilberg did a better job in the ‘70’s of making Jaws something to fear than Turteltaub does here. You never get a true sense of the beast except in what the people have to say. When you do see her, its digital performance isn’t all that beastly, to be honest.

There are elements of indulgence that make ‘The Meg’ the perfect film for your youngsters to view because they need to have something to talk about when they go back to school. They can talk about their first scary movie and they will also learn some things they can take back to science class. There were several younger viewers at our screening, ages around nine and ten, and they were thrilled and excited by the film. This could be because they don’t have anything to compare it to. That being said, it’s not a bad movie, it’s just not a good ‘remake.’ Since it isn’t a remake and you just want to watch a nonsensical action/horror, you could definitely do worse. Jason Statham brings you a believable enough hero to root for and the little treasure, Shuya Sophia Cai, plays a darling character for you to hope is ultimately saved.

Meg is a Megalodon, a prehistoric shark that’s discovered when scientists, who should know better by now, move beneath what has been thought to be the ocean floor but is really a freezing thermal cloud that houses a new ecosystem and keeps new species safe below. They intend to find these new species by cruising a sub down and busting into this ecosystem. When they actually do this, they never prepare for the worst, of course. They’re happy they made the discovery but that’s short-lived when Meg, bothered by their lights, finds them and isn’t interested in letting them tell the world about her home. Morris, (played badly by Rainn Wilson) an annoying billionaire who is interested only in his profit margin, insists the team do whatever it takes to keep the operation going. Jonas (Statham) enters because one of the team members below is his ex-wife. He comes to the rescue because he has been in the position before and this ends up being a chance to prove himself… not that he needed one. You’ll learn about as the film opens.

There are a lot of incredibly tense scenes in the film, especially after Meg is tagged. When this happens, the action never stops, but it is a bit slow to get started. There’s a lot of humor, as well, which surprised me. One hysterical moment that the entire audience chuckled at was when Jonas tries not to think about the beast as he’s swimming in her waters. To himself, he sings Dora’s ‘Just Keep Swimming’ song from ‘Finding Nemo.’ There are several well-placed jump scares to keep you on the edge of your seat and when you think they’ve done about all they can, they give the audience a little more so don’t think it’s over just cuz Morris thinks it is. If you go to see ‘The Meg,’ please pull for Pippin. She’s the cute little pup who falls in the water during the trailer. I won’t tell you if Meg finds her to be an adequate snack or not, but I was heartbroken by her fear, as I’m sure you will be, too… I hope.

In the mood for some action with Statham? Check out ‘The Meg.’ It’ll be a better view if you can catch it on IMAX but if you’re not a huge Statham fan, you’d probably do well to watch during a matinee or wait and see it at home. It’s too predictable to be mind-blowing but Turteltaub gives you enough with a few characters to keep you interested and amused.  One last note. Just about everything out of the mouth of Morris is weak and tired. This character could have and should have been improved.

This action/horror franchise, produced by horror master producer Jason Blum of Blumhouse, was started in June of 2013 with ‘The Purge.’ We next saw it in appear in July of 2014 with ‘The Purge: Anarchy.’ Two years later, the third in the series, ‘The Purge: Election Year’ frightened us again. The first film, starring Ethan Hawke, took us to the year 2022 where the Sandin family is struggling to stay alive as masked strangers penetrate the safety of their home. The intruders are threatening to kill them because the Sandins helped someone the intruders had the intention of slaughtering on purge night. It’s legal to kill for twelve hours during ‘The Purge’ and they have every right to kill this person. This legal murder is the constant in each of the films.

This concept was fresh, and the movie grossed 86 million dollars more than it took to make. The films continue to make more money than what they cost to make. The total budget for the four films has been 35 million and the first three have already brought in 319.8 million. If they continue to be a success, Blumhouse will keep churning them out.

This fourth narrative ‘The First Purge’ is the origin story. It’s about how it all got started. The writer of all four films, James DeMonaco, came up with a demented idea with this. It’s a bit disconcerting to think that the American people would be fine with their government offering them the chance to murder and they’d accept it… and then actually follow through. This film opening on Independence Day of 2018 seems calculated. This storyline is even more politically motivated than the others. I say this as there is what appears to be a hard to hide direct message to Donald Trump himself. This happens when a woman screams a particular line out to a man who is grabbing her crotch. I’ll let your mind wander as to what that line might be. The poster for the film shows a bright red hat with white stitching to mirror the image of Trump’s MAGA hats so, the message to the Trump administrations isn’t subtle. Don’t fear though. It won’t be so in your face that it won’t make sense or make you uncomfortable. Everything in the film will advance the storyline. As I mentioned, the government conceives of a way to off poor minorities without lifting a finger… by allowing them to legally do each other in themselves. Watching this in 2018 while living in the United States might make you wiggle in your seat a little more than you might have with the previous films because you can see where this could become our reality. Okay, probably not. Well… let’s hope not. The political landscape is crazy right now and the franchise took full advantage of that in every conceivable way.

The old political parties are replaced by the NRA supported ‘New Founding Fathers of America’ or the NFFA who are very white and want only the rich and the white to survive. They start an experiment of death with a $5,000 monetary incentive for those who stay on Staten Island and participate. The national debt has tripled and with this purge, they will have fewer Americans to cover which means more tax dollars to go into their pockets. Protests erupt with one of the main characters, Nya (Davis), screaming out against incentivizing the murder of black people but the poorer of the community, including her younger brother Isaiah (Wade), knows that the $5,000 they’re being offered can mean the difference between life and death for the rest of the year. Having a beef with a drugged out lunatic named Skeletor (Paul) he’d like to settle, and without his sisters’ knowledge, Isaiah participates in the purge. However, unable to find Skeletor, he finds a purge party instead.

When they picked Staten Island as a launching point, the behavioral scientist or ‘The Architect’ of it all, named Dr. Updale (Tomei), is certain that the people living in the boroughs would willingly partake. Since everyone was offered more money the more they engaged, she is more than surprised when the strong bonds of the community prove her wrong. With almost only Skeletor being the exception, people are not only not active but they’re dancing. This isn’t good for the government and turns out not to be too good for Dr. Updale either. When the residents show that the experiment wasn’t a success, it’s time for the government to make it look like it was by any means necessary so they send in their own people to fix the problem.

Through the night, we meet several more strong characters, chief among them, Dmitri (Noel) a drug kingpin who ends up losing his crew, not to ‘purgers’ but to gunmen for hire. The love of his life, Nya, is in danger and he’s out to rescue her and several others. When he does, there are powerful scenes that symbolize race relations in America. White supremacists and members of the KKK move floor to floor of the public housing project building Nya is holed up in, executing everything that moves. The lighting and camera work in this particular scene is the most entertaining of the film and will have you riveted.

There are several reasons to see this. If you’re a fan of the genre or of what Blumhouse Productions offers, you won’t be disappointed. The clear message to ‘never give up’ that is reiterated in several scenes and by almost everyone the government has taken for granted, should be witnessed. FYI, it’s stated at the end that it’s over but then someone says, ‘For now.’ You know what that means so if you’ve seen one, you might want to just keep going and seeing this on the Fourth of July? Why not?!