‘The Meg’ Film Review

Grade: B+

With the way ‘The Meg’ was marketed, you would not expect anything more than an action B-movie starring Jason Statham, yet surprisingly, a lot of effort and care has been taken to make sure Jon Turteltaub’s adaptation of Steve Alten’s science-fiction horror novel ‘Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror’ was as thrilling of a shark movie as it could be. Despite having humorous moments, audiences expecting B-movie fun will either be disappointed, or find themselves enjoying what they came for; depending on how they see it. As much of a B-movie lover I am, I walked in expecting nothing more than an entertaining, albeit disposable, bad shark movie fit for the SyFy channel, yet instead walked out of something much more. In fact, I could say that ‘The Meg’ is one of the best shark movies since ‘Jaws’!

‘Smurfs: The Lost Village’ Film Review

Grade: C+

Peyo’s most famous blue creatures are back in not only their first animated theatrical outing since 1976’s ‘The Smurfs and the Magic Flute’, but also their first theatrical film since ‘The Smurfs 2’ (a sequel to the critically bashed live-action/CGI outing). Thankfully, the smurfs are back in animated form, and for the most part, ‘Smurfs: The Lost Village’ is passable. It is a beautifully animated movie which kind of takes you back to the golden days of animation (‘The Peanuts Movie’, and the upcoming ‘Captain Underpants’ movie have attempted that same effort in nostalgic 3D which feels like 2D), and it does feel like a cartoon converted into 3D.