Now that the Meg 2 has been greenlit I've got questions.

The Meg, which is a show about prehistoric giant sharks unleashed into a modern ecosystem, is getting a sequel. I really enjoyed the movie, mostly because I like shark movies, and I tend to watch all shark movies. In the rankings of shark movies overall, it is in my top ten. And honestly, that's not saying much as Jaws will always be a masterpiece, and the rest are just hot garbage. But I do like hot garbage from time to time.

That said, I'm curious to see if the sequel will bring back Li Bingbing and continue the interesting romance between her and action superstar, Jason Statham. I like Jason Statham. And by "interesting," I like that there was one in the first place. Most made with/for China movies never features any romance between the Chinese female lead and the American male lead. Sometimes one character will note how they think the Chinese woman is good looking, but it's always a one-way street that never goes anywhere. There are probably a number of sociopolitical reasons to explain this. And in today's world, there's a lot of China hate coming from America (being broadcast with a megaphone) even as we continue to purchase and use their products because things made in America are too expensive, i.e,. wages are too low in America to afford to buy American.

I was actually surprised by The Meg. It was immediately different, with one scene of Li Bingbing ogling a naked-but-for-a-towel Jason Statham. It qualifies as very thirsty on screen stuff. Do you like the word "thirsty" used in this context? I do love the ever evolving English language. Anyway, Li Bingbing did make it clear that she liked what she was seeing, and then there was lots of reinforcement from other cast members in the film saying things like, "You two should really be a couple." I think it would be awesome if we saw more of that headed toward something in a sequel.

It was also a movie that dared to kill a dog. Or at least sort of...we all thought the dog "Pippin" got eaten by the shark, but we do see it later in the movie alive and well. It was still goofy fun. The Meg never took itself seriously, which made it an awesome popcorn film.

And here's another musing: I wonder how a megalodon with actually "real world" physics would fare against a pod of modern adult Orcas. I think (despite the size of the shark) that the Orcas would kill it. They seem to have incredible intelligence and capability to coordinate attacks for killing things in the ocean.

At this point in my life I'll watch Jason Statham versus anything.

This is my reaction to Jason Statham being in The Meg, which "opens wide" this weekend.

I'd appreciate it if Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham continued to spend downtime between F&F movies trying to one-up each other making SyFy movies with huge budgets. It's a billion dollar idea...at least admit this. And even though it would cost the studios a ton of dough, we (the public) would be the real winners of such a competition.

I'm so excited to see "The Meg" this Friday. I have a love/hate relationship with sharks not to mention an ongoing debate with my friend Brad as to whether the latest shark movie has a shark that's bigger than a school bus--the "school bus" standard being where the bar is set. Is it bigger than a school bus? Mmm...maybe? There's no doubt a lot of kids would fit inside that shark. That's how the conversation usually goes.

Random musings:

1) The Meg was a book published in 1997. So it's been a 21 year journey to realize as a movie. Those of you with stars in your eyes that want your stories to be realized in film, just think about this. Two decades. Yeah.

2)  This movie strikes me as having the same nods to the audience as Snakes on a Plane. It's ridiculous, but will be super fun anyway. It seems like a good movie to send summer out on a bang, kinda like Guardians of the Galaxy was a few years ago.

3) I wonder if the movie has multiple sharks in it. The book did. The premise is that megalodons were able to survive in the deep near volcanic vents where the water was warmer.

4) I hope Jason Statham punches the shark at some point.

5) I appreciate that the Chinese/International market is allowing movies to stray from the same five locations that they previously were restricted to.

6) I want a fishing boat collecting shark fins for "shark fin soup" to be eaten by megalodon. That'd be dramatic irony, and kind of funny.

7) I'm kind of excited to see the giant squid too (that's in the trailer).

8) I think there's a prologue in the book where a megalodon eats a T-Rex. This got me thinking that if they kept that, there should be a crossover with Jurassic World at some point. I'd be on board.

9) Take a look at this poster. I like it a lot. "There's always a bigger fish." Qui-Gonn Jinn from The Phantom Menace

The Meg channels Pixar in the funnest way using both music and some very similar font.

Movies with sharks in them are what superhero movies used to be before Marvel got so damn good at making superhero movies. This summer, we get The Meg, which is short for megaladon, which is short for "Bruce" from Finding Nemo.

At first I didn't really know what I was watching. And then it hit me, Jason Statham is finally in a movie with a bunch of green screen special effects! Jason Statham hates special effects, and it's probably the reason why he's a "B" or even "C" list movie star. Maybe Dwayne Johnson had a talk with him in filming the last Furious movie and said, "Hey man, if you want to make it big you have to go green screen. That's just where it is these days."

And regarding The Meg, it looks incredibly cheesy. And in this situation, cheesy is definitely good. Big Trouble in Little China was cheesy, and it's arguably one of the best movies of all time. It's all in how you handle your cheese, and The Meg seems to have it down pretty good in this trailer (I've embedded it below). For what it's worth, I love the campy feel of the tale as it unfolds, and the underwater research station off the coast of China looks really damn good. I totally feel for that little girl; I think I empathize with her fear of "the monster outside" because I saw Jaws so young.

Random musing: anyone else notice that the lettering on the poster reminds me of Pixar? Anyone notice that the music, i.e. "Somwhere Beyond the Sea" that appears in the trailer is also Pixar-esque? This has to be intentional. Anyway, if you haven't watched the trailer, click on it below and prepare to be entertained.

I have this love/hate thing with sharks. I really do. And the bigger, the better. I can't wait for August.