The Meg ★★

Around the time that a dog is in danger of being swallowed by the ridiculously massive prehistoric shark that inexplicably swims silently through Jon Turteltaub’s Jaws knockoff, one thing becomes clear. The director of the National Treasure films and his writers couldn’t even be bothered to pay proper homage to Steven Spielberg’s granddaddy of the genre. “Pippin” is the name of their pooch, and although it sounds similar to “Pippet,” it’s a knowing detail that isn’t quite right. In fact, the film misses many opportunities to plumb the depths of its 1975 predecessor, most notably on the character side. With no Chief Brody, Matt Hooper or Quint equivalents, we’re left with a forgettably generic roster of salty dogs led by Jonas Taylor. Jason Statham (The Fate of the Furious) plays the deep-sea rescue diver Jonas like a mutant combination of the three: a know-it-all who’s developed a fear of the water while pissing off everyone around him. Despite this volatile trichotomy, Jonas is recruited by famed oceanographer Zhang (Winston Chao)—China’s answer to Jacques Cousteau—to save the international crew (Jessica McNamee, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson and Masi Oka) of a submersible that’s been attacked by the 75-foot-long Megalodon, aka The Meg. Zhang’s daughter Suyin (Li Bingbing) is against the idea—until she gets an eyeful of Jonas’ pecs. Nearly 20 years ago, Renny Harlin’s Deep Blue Sea mined a lot of this territory with a knowing wink, while Turteltaub’s film does its best not to sink. (At Assembly Row, Boston Common, Fenway, Seaport, South Bay and in the suburbs.)