Besides the breathtaking shark hunting scenes, the action blockbuster “The Meg” also captivated the audience by the “dominant” mother-daughter duo Suyin and Meiying played by Li Bingbing and child actress Sophia Cai.
The Meg is an action and thriller film directed by Jon Turteltaub. The film is based on the novel Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror (1997) by Steve Alten. The film tells the story of the confrontation between a group of scientists and the giant shark Megalodon in the Mariana Islands – the deepest sea on Earth. The main character is Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham), who used to work as a navy captain but was fired after a tragic incident involving a giant monster at the bottom of the sea.
Five years later, he was invited back to rescue scientists, including his ex-wife, trapped at the bottom of the sea. During his mission, he met and fell in love with Suyin (Li Bingbing), a Chinese scientist. Suyin was also divorced and has a young daughter named Meiying (Sophia Cai). It was Meiying who became the catalyst for love between the two. It can be said that this domineering mother-daughter pair has left beautiful memories for the audience.
Suyin (Li Bingbing) – beautiful mother of one child.
The character Suyin in The Meg is a strong, independent and confident woman. The charm of this character is her sharp, salty, “one-child” beauty that captivates the opposite person. But let’s not let appearances fool us. The beautiful Asian flower in the movie is also ready to bravely take on missions, from rescuing teammates to destroying giant sharks.
At first, viewers have the feeling that this character seems “made up”, beautiful but useless. She volunteered to pilot a submarine to save her brothers, but in the end she couldn’t do anything and instead let others save her. Every time Suyin goes on a mission, Jonas has to run to save her and then clean up the “trophies” she displayed. But she also completed her mission, to some extent. Like in the mission to shoot poison at the giant shark, she also hit it. As for her being attacked by a ferocious shark, that was a later matter. Her mission had already been completed and she had to give the stage to the male lead to perform.
The giant and ferocious shark has claimed the lives of many people, so Suyin was very good at doing that. What more can I ask of a weak-legged and soft-armed woman who always has the privilege of being protected by a man? I should have given Suyin points for enthusiasm and courage, rather than the cowardly men on the ship. Besides, without Suyin, how could Jonas play the role of “hero saving beauty” now?
Suyin can only speak so boldly, but standing in front of Jonas with his muscular body and rippling six-pack abs, he also blushes, embarrassed, shy, looking shy like an Asian girl. But as soon as I left the room, I quickly peeked through the glass door. Suyin and Jonas in the movie are exactly like “love on the inside, but on the outside it’s still scary”. The guy is Western, the girl is Asian, but the chemistry between the two actors is still very good.
The Meg is not the first film Li Bingbing has encountered in Hollywood, before that she starred in Resident Evil (Evil Land, 2002) and played a quite important role in Transformers: Age of Extinction (Transformers: Century). Original Destruction, 2014), a blockbuster with a global revenue of 1.1 billion USD. However, Li Bingbing’s role in The Meg is quite a heavy role, in this film she has more acting space as the female lead.
Meiying (Sophia Cai) – a foul-mouthed daughter
It must be said that Suyin and her mother have beauty and temperament that is difficult for anyone to match. The girl Meiying (Sophia Cai) is still young but is very pretty and adorable, expected to become a future beauty. Just being pretty is enough to make others fall in love with you. Meiying is as pretty as an angel and has a foul mouth.
Only 8 years old, Meiying is very understanding, seems to know everything, just like a young old lady. Perhaps because she has experienced a broken family, she seems mature beyond her age. But she accepted the breakdown of her parents’ marriage with a calm, optimistic attitude. The girl herself said that her mother needed more time to start a new relationship because she had just spent time with a “bastard” (her father).
Every action, gesture, and word Meiying uttered made viewers laugh out loud because it was so adorable. Knowing that “Crazy Uncle” Jonas had feelings for her mother, Meiying whispered in her ear, “My mother also likes you”, then winked mischievously. Meiying is a very good girl, never nagging or bothering her mother. The girl also secretly told Uncle Jonas that he must save her mother.
The girl’s maturity is most clearly shown in the detail of the helicopter crashing into the ship carrying the scientists. Everyone jumped into the sea at the same time. While everyone was panicking, Meiying was the calm one. best. The girl even calmed the black uncle who was screaming loudly and loudly: “Shh, please be quiet! We have life jackets!” Meiying is the factor that helps the audience relax after stressful, suspenseful minutes of the movie.
Playing the role of Meiying is child actress Sophia Cai (also known as Shuya Cai), a girl of mixed descent, her mother is Chinese and her father is English, so she has an extremely beautiful mixed-race beauty. Sophia began her career at the age of 2 as a television commercial model and film actress. Sophia Cai’s role as Ni Ni in the Chinese movie Somewhere Only We Know (There is a place only we know, 2015) helped her name become more widely known.
With the advantage of being mixed-race, Sophia Cai is fluent in both English and Mandarin. The Chinese actors in The Meg all impress with their ability to speak English extremely fluently. Perhaps in addition to the thrilling hunt for a super tyrant shark, the powerful mother-daughter pair in the movie is also an interesting factor that draws audiences to the theater.