PREMISE
A father and his two teenage daughters find themselves hunted by a massive rogue lion intent on proving that the Savanna has but one apex predator.
THE GOOD STUFF
IDRIS ELBA- Perhaps I’m late to the party, but I’ve come to understand that there are two types of Idris Elba performances. There’s the kind of movie star, flashy, film franchise-worthy type of charismatic stuff (Pacific rim, dark Tower, Luther, hobbs and shaw, suicide squad) and down-to-earth, mostly relatable, everyman type of roles. (The mountain between us, obsessed, daddy’s little girls, concrete cowboy)
Elba is an actor that can bounce between the two more effortlessly than the vast majority of his peers. His performance in this movie represents the everyman type in the best way possible. An actor that brings too much flashy movie star stuff to simplistic films like this usually becomes more of a distraction than something that helps the story. Fortunately, that is not the case here.
THE VISUALS- The subliminal message that I think this movie is trying to convey is that nature is stunning and looks pretty serene…until it tries to kill you. The visuals of this movie drive that message home. This film goes above and beyond and shows the beauty of South Africa that you would see on the National Geographic channel. Packs of CGI Lions (that seemed to be straight from the latest version of The Lion King) frolicking amongst each other, with the sunset in the backdrop, birds in the sky, etc. Whatever a peaceful Safari in Africa must look like in a typical person’s head; this movie goes above and beyond to give you those images…
Oh yeah, it also goes balls out to show the brutal R-rated bloody aftermath of rampaging lion attacks.
THE BAD STUFF
THE DAUGHTERS- Not too long ago, I commented on us being in this golden age of child actors. Films like THE BLACK PHONE, KING RICHARD, and GHOSTBUSTERS AFTERLIFE were flat-out anchored by child actor performances that were aces. But unfortunately, that is not the case here.
And the more I think about it; it’s not because their performances are all that terrible; it’s just that they’re plot devices. They are two characters that make all the dumb decisions that characters in horror movies shouldn’t make to ramp up the tension and endanger every otherwise intelligent character.
THE UGLY STUFF
The adamantine antagonist- Note to any viewer who may watch this film: at the end of the day, you are watching a movie. At some point, whatever is rooted in reality, will get heightened just a little bit because filmmakers may not be able to help themselves. 85% of this movie, I feel, are situations that could happen in real life if you were found in such a wild predicament as these characters are.
But then that 15% shows up, and things get silly. Real silly. Really unrealistic and silly. The effectiveness of the movie’s ending entirely depends on this silliness being observed by the viewer and quickly dismissed. I couldn’t ignore it. It stuck with me. To describe it in detail is getting in the spoiler territory, so I cannot do that here, sadly.
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Survival films, I feel, are the most straightforward genre, whether they be horror films or not. And because of that, I can’t help but judge the films of the genre based on narrow criteria:
A. Is your main character worth rooting for?
B. Is there a realistic portrayal of the animal/element antagonizing your main character?
C. Have you Incorporated enough imaginative scenarios to show your character’s resiliency and how outmatched they are given the circumstances they are in?
If the answers to these three questions are yes, you have a recommendable survival flick. And that is the case with Beast.
BEAST is in theaters now.
