Beast
Beast
Starring Idris Elba, Ivana Halley, Leah Sava Jeffries, Sharlto Copley
Directed by Baltasar Kormakur
Starring Idris Elba, Ivana Halley, Leah Sava Jeffries, Sharlto Copley
Directed by Baltasar Kormakur
The African continent is a fascinating land filled with some of the most beautiful animals you could ever lay eyes on - but it's also home to deadly predators in the form of ruthless, heartless poachers who murder these majestic animals in cold blood to harvest their bodies for profit. Proving that sometimes the law of the jungle remains in effect, however, films like "Beast" showcase that the animal kingdom is sometimes highly capable to fend for themselves against such attacks, introducing a ferocious killer lion who seeks to destroy those who killed his pride - if only the film could've been as interesting as its premise.
Dr. Nate Samuels (Idris Elba) takes his daughters Meredith (Ivana Halley) and Norah (Leah Sava Jeffries) to South Africa where he met his wife to show them the world their mother grew up in after she died of cancer. Meredith still holds a grudge against her father for divorcing her mother and feels like he let her down in the end, and Nate hopes to mend those bridges during the trip. He reunites with his friend Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley), who runs a game reserve and sets out to protect the animals against poachers in the area, but there's a more deadly force protecting the Savanna - a ruthless, relentless lion who's out for bloody revenge against humans for killing his pride, and sets his sights on Nate and his family.
Films like "The Ghost and the Darkess" and "Prey" have focused on real-life animal attacks and showcases the deadly nature of these predators, and while "Beast" will easily be added to that list, it's also easily the most forgettable. A pointless family story that goes nowhere is underlined by the beast's ferocious nature, resulting in a mixed blend of predator-versus-prey and a bland family dynamic that never comes fully flushed out, but instead results in very angry, annoyed moments the audience has for the total ineptitude of the humans in the film, leaving you wishing the beast would devour them all for their incompetence.
"Beast" is highly irritating in its storytelling, as the main characters are completely unlikable and entitled, and also downright dumb when it comes to surviving in the wild. The main family struggle occurs between Nate and his oldest daughter, who passive aggressively blames him for their mother's death, and often reminds him of that in the most inopportune times, with no real resolution. It was frustrating because she had about as much emotion about her mother's death than she would be if she saw a dead turtle on the road, and it wasn't believable in the slightest, and further pointed out her entitled behavior.
One of my favorite shows is "The Walking Dead," and the first few seasons there was a kid named Carl who always got into trouble because he would wander away from the safety of the house and would wind up leading Walkers back home, and if he had only stayed in the house that wouldn't have happened. This happens here numerous times when, after Nate and his family get trapped in a truck with the lion stalking them, his girls constantly get out of the car and wander around thinking they're safe for some odd reason. Then while Nate is actually trying to do something to rescue them by drawing the lion away from the jeep, they call him on the radio and reveal his position, as well as honking the horn incessantly, serving as a dinner bell for the lion. All these reasons are proof you should never have kids, because during an apocalyptic event, they'll just weigh you down.
Idris Elba tries his best to show that he wants to be a part of this project, but he seems to just float through the film with an "I'm only here for the check" attitude and maybe show future producers of the next James Bond film that he's be right for the role because he literally punched a lion in the face. Other than that, he just reacts to the situations around him and doesn't really take a commanding lead in anything, other than proving that his wife would've been much better at handling this life-threatening situation.
The lion was slightly impressive and only a little better CGI-ed than the "live action" "Lion King" film, but even that didn't make him very menacing, especially since he was going after evil poachers and a stupid family, and this lion is obviously a fan of movies because he definitely saw "Cujo" because he basically copied the film's premise - trapping a family in a stuck moving vehicle and slowly biding it's time for them to either be stupid enough to come out (as in here) or starve to death. For a film boasting an R-rating, you'd expect more lion carnage, but most of it occurs off-screen, and the violence you do see is rather tame compared to other animal attack films and especially those you see in real life.
While "Beast" isn't the worst film of 2022, it's something that's worse: it's forgettable. It doesn't offer anything either good or bad to leave an imprint of it in your mind once you leave the theater, but merely exists in the ether during the off-season of August, a film that doesn't really need to be seen to know how it all ends, and one that doesn't offer up anything exciting or different from other, more capable, films of this long-forgotten subgenre.
The Score: D
Dr. Nate Samuels (Idris Elba) takes his daughters Meredith (Ivana Halley) and Norah (Leah Sava Jeffries) to South Africa where he met his wife to show them the world their mother grew up in after she died of cancer. Meredith still holds a grudge against her father for divorcing her mother and feels like he let her down in the end, and Nate hopes to mend those bridges during the trip. He reunites with his friend Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley), who runs a game reserve and sets out to protect the animals against poachers in the area, but there's a more deadly force protecting the Savanna - a ruthless, relentless lion who's out for bloody revenge against humans for killing his pride, and sets his sights on Nate and his family.
Films like "The Ghost and the Darkess" and "Prey" have focused on real-life animal attacks and showcases the deadly nature of these predators, and while "Beast" will easily be added to that list, it's also easily the most forgettable. A pointless family story that goes nowhere is underlined by the beast's ferocious nature, resulting in a mixed blend of predator-versus-prey and a bland family dynamic that never comes fully flushed out, but instead results in very angry, annoyed moments the audience has for the total ineptitude of the humans in the film, leaving you wishing the beast would devour them all for their incompetence.
"Beast" is highly irritating in its storytelling, as the main characters are completely unlikable and entitled, and also downright dumb when it comes to surviving in the wild. The main family struggle occurs between Nate and his oldest daughter, who passive aggressively blames him for their mother's death, and often reminds him of that in the most inopportune times, with no real resolution. It was frustrating because she had about as much emotion about her mother's death than she would be if she saw a dead turtle on the road, and it wasn't believable in the slightest, and further pointed out her entitled behavior.
One of my favorite shows is "The Walking Dead," and the first few seasons there was a kid named Carl who always got into trouble because he would wander away from the safety of the house and would wind up leading Walkers back home, and if he had only stayed in the house that wouldn't have happened. This happens here numerous times when, after Nate and his family get trapped in a truck with the lion stalking them, his girls constantly get out of the car and wander around thinking they're safe for some odd reason. Then while Nate is actually trying to do something to rescue them by drawing the lion away from the jeep, they call him on the radio and reveal his position, as well as honking the horn incessantly, serving as a dinner bell for the lion. All these reasons are proof you should never have kids, because during an apocalyptic event, they'll just weigh you down.
Idris Elba tries his best to show that he wants to be a part of this project, but he seems to just float through the film with an "I'm only here for the check" attitude and maybe show future producers of the next James Bond film that he's be right for the role because he literally punched a lion in the face. Other than that, he just reacts to the situations around him and doesn't really take a commanding lead in anything, other than proving that his wife would've been much better at handling this life-threatening situation.
The lion was slightly impressive and only a little better CGI-ed than the "live action" "Lion King" film, but even that didn't make him very menacing, especially since he was going after evil poachers and a stupid family, and this lion is obviously a fan of movies because he definitely saw "Cujo" because he basically copied the film's premise - trapping a family in a stuck moving vehicle and slowly biding it's time for them to either be stupid enough to come out (as in here) or starve to death. For a film boasting an R-rating, you'd expect more lion carnage, but most of it occurs off-screen, and the violence you do see is rather tame compared to other animal attack films and especially those you see in real life.
While "Beast" isn't the worst film of 2022, it's something that's worse: it's forgettable. It doesn't offer anything either good or bad to leave an imprint of it in your mind once you leave the theater, but merely exists in the ether during the off-season of August, a film that doesn't really need to be seen to know how it all ends, and one that doesn't offer up anything exciting or different from other, more capable, films of this long-forgotten subgenre.
The Score: D
Comments
Post a Comment