A One Mann’s Movies review of “Beast” (2022).
Idris Elba really doesn’t have much luck with me with his feature films. I think he’s a wonderful actor… but some of his movie vehicles really stink. And “Beast” (not to be confused with the 2017 Jessie Buckley / Johnny Flynn offering) is another one.
Bob the Movie Man Rating(s):
Plot Summary:
Widowed doctor Nate Samuels (Idris Elba) is taking his two kids to visit the ancestral home of their mother in the bush of South Africa. Argumentative teen Meredith (Iyana Halley) keeps venting her spleen at Nate about their family situation in front of her younger sister Norah (Leah Jeffries). But when they go on safari with family friend and local gamekeeper Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley), the trip takes a dangerous turn thanks to a ferocious rogue lion.
Certification:
Talent:
Starring: Idris Elba, Sharlto Copley, Iyana Halley, Leah Jeffries.
Directed by: Baltasar Kormákur.
Written by: Ryan Engle (from a story by Jaime Primak Sullivan).
Twitter Handles: #BeastMovie
“Beast” Review:
Positives:
- The lion attacks themselves, when they happen, deliver a few decent jump scares. The CGI’d lion is well-done, and a final climactic battle is reminiscent of Leo DiCaprio and a bear in “The Revenant“.
Negatives:
- Oh man – where do I start on the dialogue. It is just so annoying!! I’d really hope to think that most scenes were ones where Kormákur said to the cast, “OK, just ignore what it says on the page and improvise the scene”. And the cast then did their best, but were just hopeless at improv! For the amount of inane chatter coming out of everyone’s mouths made me want the lion to win as quickly as possible just to shut them up! The same lines keep coming out over and over and over again: “Are you OK?” (they’re not); “Stay in the car!” (they don’t); “I hate poachers” (#obvs). It would be a real disappointment to see Ryan Engle’s script and see that this drivel is – you know – actually written down.
- For an “action” film, I was genuinely bored for a good percentage of the running time. There is so much blah, blah talk about the familial disharmony. I like background to be set up in a film, but this was done so crassly. Here I needed less chatter and more lion.
- Most of the time, this reminded me of a particularly dull episode of “Daktari” than I used to watch as a kid. Even the attempts to show shots of the local wildlife seemed rather half-hearted.
- The evil lion here is as implausibly resilient as the shark in the Universal “Jaws” ride. At one point, it is doused in petrol and embedded in an exploding vehicle. Yet then it’s back! And looking hardly any worse for its barbecueing!
Summary Thoughts on “Beast”:
I wasn’t expecting very much from “Beast”, but my expectations were not even remotely met. A real summer dud for me I’m afraid.
Trailer for “Beast”
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQMc7Sq36mI .
