Jason Statham's "perfect" thriller has just landed on Netflix to watch tonight

If you fancy staying in this weekend instead of heading to the cinema to watch new releases such as Whalefall and Street Fighter, then why not check out a thrilling creature feature starring Jason Statham?

The Meg sees the action star portray Jonas Taylor, a diver who specialises in ventures to the deepest depths of the sea. He has a new challenge altogether, however, when a 75-foot-long megalodon begins to wreak havoc in the Mariana Trench.

Based on Steve Alten's 1997 book Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror, the sci-fi action thriller is currently available to stream on Netflix in the UK, having been added to the service on Friday (16 October).

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In addition to Statham, the cast for the film includes Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, Cliff Curtis, Ruby Rose, Masi Oka and Jessica McNamee. Jon Turteltaub, best known for Cool Runnings and National Treasure, serves as the director.

Upon its theatrical release in 2018, The Meg was a surprise hit at the box office, as it grossed $529 million worldwide. It did, however, garner a mixed response from critics, with Rotten Tomatoes currently reporting a middling approval rating of 47% from 311 reviews.

It is slightly more popular viewers on IMDb, where it has an average user rating of 5.7/10 from 233,000 logs. In a 7/10 review, one user called it a "fun theatre-going experience" and a "perfect popcorn flick".

"This movie is just stupid fun with tons of funny moments. The comedy aspect of it actually caught me off guard," they added, while also reserving praise for the "grandiose action sequences" and the "beautiful CGI".

Another viewer echoed this sentiment, opining: "Granted, The Meg is dumb. Jason Statham takes on a giant shark from below what scientists thought was the bottom of the Mariana Trench... Definitely not a masterpiece, but definitely enjoyable."

"The Meg fits the bill for any creature feature film, but the bonus is Jason Statham. In my opinion, he alone raises the bar for this type of film at least a couple of levels beyond most of the generic movies and this is a refreshing take on the genre," wrote another user.

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Such was the box office success of the thriller, a sequel - Meg 2: The Trench - was released in 2023. Based on Alten's 1999 novel The Trench, Statham reprised his role as Jonas, while Ben Wheatley took over from Turteltaub.

It's not the only sequel of Statham's career, and the actor will be reprising another one of his roles next year as The Beekeeper 2 is released in January. Again, this will have a new director, with Timo Tjahjanto replacing David Ayer.

The Meg is streaming now on Netflix.

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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media.  His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.