‘Beast’ Review
Stars: Idris Elba, Iyana Halley, Leah Jeffries, Sharlto Copley, Martin Munro, Thapelo Sebogodi, Chris Langa, Mduduzi Mavimbela, Kazi Khuboni | Written by Ryan Engle | Directed by Baltasar Kormákur
Despite a poor script that makes the film too predictable, Beast offers up enough lion thrills to keep you entertained for the 90-minute run time.
Idris Elba plays Nate, a father who’s on a trip to Africa with his two teenage daughters. Things soon take a frighting turn for the family when they find themselves hunted by a massive rogue lion. The film really shines once it gets into the lion attack. Director Baltasar Kormákur (2 Guns) uses some creative camera work and the film flourishes with multiple brilliant tracking shots. Once the action hits you get lost in the moment and it leads to some edge-of-your-seat set pieces. Kormákur does a wonderful job of building the tension and making the lion as terrifying as possible – remind me to not book a safari holiday any time soon. I also found the CGI to hold up extremely well. There were never any moments the lion took me out of the film or made me question what I was seeing. The second act of the film is also helped massively by the cinematography used on the beautiful African landscape.
Beast is also helped by its pacing. The film moves at such a pace that it never overstays its welcome. At just 90 minutes, before you know it the lion’s jaws are on you, and once that starts the film doesn’t give you much of a break. It helps add so much entertainment to the movie and is where the movie shines the most, otherwise it could get lost in its predictable script and poor character development. The film almost feels like it knows the character and story are its weakest points, and rather than putting time into making those elements better the film speeds to the lion attack, figuring that’s what the majority of the audience came to see.
The screenplay is what holds the film back the most, in particular the first act. Beast fails to make us truly care for the characters. The first act of the film doesn’t set up any character traits or personalities and therefore leaves us not invested in the characters, so when the lion does attack the jeopardy for the characters isn’t there. The best films make us care about the story before the turn. In Jurassic Park we have to care about the opening of the park and the characters before the dinosaurs escape. In Die Hard we have to care about a husband and wife trying to fix their relationship before Hans Gruber attacks. In films like Beast we have to care about the story in act one. There has to be a world where the lion never attacks and the story is still engaging, but unfortunately that doesn’t happen. It’s what stops Beast from taking a step into being a great film instead of just a good one.
Despite that, it is still an entertaining time at the cinema. There are plenty of moments and set pieces that suck you in and get you on the edge of your seat. However, too many times we get pulled out of the film by the script. If you’re looking for something to mindlessly go into this summer, forget about the world, and not care about a perfect movie, then Beast is the one for you. A good film to grab handfuls of popcorn and a big drink while you watch Idris Elba trying to survive a lion. In the end it’s pretty much what you’d expect.
*** 3/5
Beast is in cinemas now.
