How is The Meg different from Sharknado? It’s the presence of Jason Statham. He is definitely not the new Ian Ziering. It would take 100 Ians to make one Jason. Why? Because Jason Statham is the coolest actor in the world.
We need to go to Jason Statham’s history to see what makes that bold statement true. Born in England, he never lost what makes him British. We all know that any actor from England immediately gets cool points for their accent. But we still need to delve further to show you why Jason elevates this movie.
As a teen, Jason learned martial arts like kung fu, kickboxing and karate. He also played English football and was a diver. He was good enough to be in the Commonwealth Games. His family ran a stall and Jason worked with his family. Why is this so important? Jason Statham is actually the rough-and-tough guy you see on the screen. For me, that is better than any 90210 fake tough guy.
This is another cool bit about Statham: While he was selling watches near the doors of Harrods, Tommy Hilfiger noticed him and he was signed to a contract. Hilfiger liked his “everyman” look. From there, Statham went on to music videos and finally found his way into movies.
His first part was in the amazing Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, one of the wildest action movies I’ve ever seen. Statham obviously fit the mold of action hero with his resume. If you haven’t seen many of his movies, I recommend Crank and Crank: High Voltage. It is somewhat like a live-action comedy, with a lot of killing people in funny ways while having sex with his girlfriend and trying to stay alive. One good thing about Statham is his sequels. They are usually as good as the first one. The Transporter series was all about protecting an innocent person and sticking to the code of conduct his character has. You can Google Jason Statham to see a list of movies. I think you will be surprised at some of the big movies he has been in. So yes, Jason Statham is about the coolest guy on the planet. He is the most REAL actor who has the ability to do his own stunts and his fight scenes seem to be actual fights, not fake fighting.
That brings us back to The Meg. Jason Statham has the chops to elevate a ridiculous mega Sharknado from the B-movie status. The effects are good, but at times too good. Having a little girl in the movie is a ploy, like in the old Godzilla movies from Japan. Maybe it was a nod to those old dino movies, but the child was more annoying than anything else.
So, any time I saw Statham on the screen, I knew two things: 1. I will love it, because Statham is the one actor who can pull it off. 2. This movie will not win an Academy Award, but it is 100 times as good as Sharknado. I get to see Jason Statham and oh, yeah, that gigantic megalodon about to… (chomp)