The Meg

Billionaire Jack Morris builds an ocean research base on the edge of the Marianas Trench, hoping to profit from exploration of a hypothesised "Lost Undersea World" below a deep thermocline.

While exploring below this, a sub is damaged by an unknown creature and unable to surface. They call in washed up rescue diver Jonas (The Stath), the only person ever to pull off a rescue at this depth. Their activities in doing so free a giant Megalodon which begins to wreak havoc.

Sometimes you just need to watch The Stath smolder and punch stuff.

If I'd paid money to see this I would have been very happy as I got EXACTLY what I wanted.

The Stath can do this stuff in his sleep but this US/Chinese co-production pulls together a cast of solid character actors, some of them familiar faces, to deliver what is more of a team effort than you might expect. Everybody is likeable, the dialogue is above average for such things and they don't just give all the good lines to the Stath.

There's a cute kid and the tiniest slice of romantic interest without either being cringey and they take the best bits of all the oldest clichés to make a very entertaining Jaws meets Jurassic Park festival of cheese. 

It's obviously intended to be semi-family friendly as there's little real violence, people get eaten but in a kind of bloodless cartoon way and no bad language. I laughed and clapped multiple times.

There HAS to be a sequel.

Highly recommended for a slice of Stath 8/10, just don't expect Ibsen.