'The Meg' Might Be A Scary Giant Shark Movie, But That Doesn't Mean You Won't Have Fun

In The Meg, an impossibly enormous killer shark is on the loose, and a desperate team of deep-sea rescuers, tech geniuses, and oceanographers are hot on its trail. They realize with horror the escaped living fossil is swimming right towards its easiest hunting grounds: one of the world's most densely populated beaches. For the crew, it's a desperate race against time. But for the holiday revelers and audiences watching the movie, life's a beach, embodied by a sudden burst of a new twist on a catchy favorite song that also plays over the film's end credits. The song from the end credits of The Meg adds some necessary levity to the movie, and you're gonna want to listen to it over and over again.

The infectiously upbeat song is a cover of "Mickey" by Thai singer Pim. Its tone is in contrast to the rest of The Meg's soundtrack, which reflects the constant danger and imminent terror members of deep sea research station Mana One face every moment the megalodon shark swims free. Released from the depths of an ocean floor trench, the Meg of the movie's title is based on real-life extinct species Carcharocles megalodon, an enormous prehistoric shark that swam the oceans for over 20 million years. Though living fossils have been discovered every now and then, there's absolutely no evidence megalodons are still around (and given the size of this predator, there would definitely be evidence). But it's a hard-to-resist summer blockbuster premise to imagine the havoc one could do if unleashed on today's world.

And nothing better represents the modern world than the bright pop cover of Toni Basil's "Mickey". Though the film technically takes place five years in the future, a song capturing a strong Asian presence on the world stage and reflecting global influence is spot-on. While the rest of The Meg's instrumental soundtrack is available streaming, unfortunately the song doesn't appear to be available online at the moment, so you'll just have to hear it when The Meg hits theaters on Aug. 10.

As QZ reports, the movie itself is an international affair; with funding from Chinese investors the film boasts a cast of Chinese, American, and international stars, including Ruby Rose as hacker Jaxx, Li BingBing as top research scientist Suyin, Jason Statham as a top deep sea rescuer, Masi Oka as a submarine operator, and Rainn Wilson as a billionaire tech investor backing a major project. Featuring Shanghai as a major location, and shooting off the Chinese and Australian shores, the movie is a refreshing change from the typical American or European-set stories seen so often in modern films.

Yet the pop influence of America isn't entirely lost, and though ostensibly cosmopolitan, The Meg hews close to American action movie tropes: fast-paced sequences centered around a lone man taking on incredible odds (and rescuing a damsel in distress), a convenient romance, and a cute kid in potential danger. There's even a pup put on the line (not to spoil too much, but pink-bowed Pippin might just steal the show from the stars).

So a cover of an '80s one-hit-wonder that was a cover of a '70s pop song infused with a throwback to Basil's '50s cheerleading days is simultaneously an homage and parody of everything American. It's layered with an understanding that infectious power pop, especially melded with hot bods and good times, is truly the universal lingua franca.