The title of the new movie “The Meg” is short for Megalodon, which is a the largest shark that has ever existed and lived millions of years ago and is thought to be extinct.

The way this story brings back this huge shark I thought was well done, but after the shark comes back to terrorize and kill almost everybody in this movie – some of the logistics due to the decisions the characters make to try and kill or escape this shark are some of the stupidest I have ever seen. What makes making a new shark movie so difficult is that it has to be something we have not seen before – and this idea is new. Then the story has to make sense, but for this movie any level of plausibility is thrown out the window within the first 30 minutes. One scene that stood out for me as one of the dumbest ever was when one professional diver played by Jason Statham makes an idiotic decision to go into the water with a 70 foot shark – in an attempt to spear him with a tracking dart. He decides to do this after a scientist says to him, “sharks are not threatened by one person in the water”. The problem here is a total lack of common sense in an attempt to create a dramatic moment. Nobody would ever do something this stupid, no way, never. There are so many idiotic decisions like this from too many characters to make this film enjoyable enough to recommend. If a movie makes no sense because the decisions of the characters are so absurd – then the whole story dies.

This movie probably marks the first time that Jason Statham has ever been in a role where he did not use his impressive Karate skills. Statham is also the only named star in this movie and the only other standout actress, who I thought was the best part of this entire movie is actress Shuya Sophia Cai – who is just about the cutest child I have ever seen in any movie. Her presence just about steals the entire story about a prehistoric shark that comes back to life. Anyone who has seen the 1975 first summer blockbuster will recognize about 3 references to Jaws – including a dog named Pippin.

The ending of this story has the usual expected attempt at a twist that really did not work and surprisingly I thought the special effects were probably the result of a budget that was not high enough for impressive special effects.

The Rotten Tomatoes review of this movie is an anemic 50%. For me, mostly because of the idiotic decisions of the characters in this movie – to create drama, I cannot recommend The Meg.

The new movie “Dog Days” is another screenplay that follows the “Gary Marshall” paradigm of having about 10 stories in one script that loosely connect together. This multi-story concept is kind of like fishing with dynamite. The idea is, to have as many stories as possible because if 2 or 3 of them work then the movie will make money and become a success. The common thread throughout this story is dogs and for those who see this film, some will want to get a dog and others will not – mainly because of the constant barking of more than a few of them during the 2 hours. The barking issue and having to get up in the morning and walk your dog is a major commitment for anyone who is not a big dog lover. I for one do not like the constant barking, which is why I am more of a cat person.

As far as the many stories of this film, I thought some of them worked and some of them did not. Towards the end there were several emotional moments that were very well done and for me was enough to give this movie a mild recommendation. Dog Days stars Vanessa Hudgens Eva Longoria and Nina Dobrev as the only well known actors and they do enough good acting carry the series of about 10 stories.

Overall I give Dog Days a mild recommendation – despite the Garry Marshall mass produced story.

One problem with this movie right from the start is the title – trying too hard to be funny. “The Spy who Dumped Me” is a reference to the movie “The Spy Who Loved me” starring Roger Moore from 1977. As soon as any movie tries too hard to be funny it will fail as a comedy and unfortunately most of the one-liners in this story from Kate McKinnon fall flat because they seem like she is trying too hard to be funny – and that never works.

What everyone has learned in the last 43 years is how rare it has been where a cast member of Saturday Night Live has gone on to be a huge success in the movie business. The obvious rare exceptions to this are Eddie Murphy who was a major success in 48 hours, Beverly Hills Cop and Trading Places. John Belushi’s break out role was in Animal House and The Blues Brothers with Dan Aykroyd. Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd were a big hit with the Ghost Busters franchise and Chevy Chase had some early hits with Fletch and a few Vacation movies. Since those early years getting a huge breakout role from SNL – has not really happened since then and this is despite having some extremely talented cast members: Kate McKinnon and Kristen Wiig being two of all time best. The problem is that being extremely successful on a show like SNL does not necessarily translate into a great movie role. A great movie role has more to do with a great idea, great writer and luck than anything else. This is the first co-starring role for McKinnon and while there were some flashes of brilliance from her in this movie, the screenplay was not nearly as as good as she deserves.

As far as this film I thought the story was too “all over the place” and trying to hard to not only be funny but different. Different is great, but not if trying to be different makes the story ridiculous.

Kate McKinnon’s co-star Mila Kunis was good in her role and she has been very likable in all the movies I have seen her in – but unfortunately the script for this movie should have had about 20 more re-writes before it was green-lighted.

The Rotten Tomatoes ratings for this film are a low 37% and I agree with this rating and I do not recommend this movie.