Director: Baltasar Kormákur
Distributor: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Duration: 93 minutes
Beast (Blu-ray) – Movie Review
Movies such as Jaws or Crawl have always been interesting because there is something exciting about people being chased by a monstrous beast. We reckon this is the case because it’s somewhat more realistic than a supernatural horror movie in which the entity feels unbelievable. However, the genre often focuses on aquatic monsters and there is only so little room to keep creating new and original movies. This time, however, an enraged lion is the culprit in Beast. As a whole, the movie was quite entertaining. We just weren’t sure whether to feel bad for the humans or not.
Beast revolves around Dr. Nate Samuels (Idris Elba), who is returning to South Africa with his two daughters, Norah (Leah Jeffries) and Meredith (Iyana Halley), to see where Nate’s deceased ex-wife grew up. He thinks this will repair his broken bond with his daughters, and it also allows both girls to learn more about their mother. Nate is staying with a longtime friend, Martin (Sharlto Copley), who will show them more of what the country has to offer. Sadly, the area is currently being plagued by poachers who are killing lions by the dozens. The poachers recently wiped out almost an entire pride, safe for the patriarch. This wounded and enraged lion is now killing all humans in the vicinity, and sadly Nate, his two daughters, and Martin have stepped into the lion’s killing grounds. With no decent way of communication and limited resources, they’ll have to escape the clutches of the vengeful lion.
As a whole, the movie evolves as you’d expect it to. The lion has an unrealistic drive to kill all humans in sight and can withstand almost everything that gets thrown at him. You’ll have to suspend your disbelief for a while if you want to make it through the movie, but when you do, it’s actually a fairly entertaining experience. Characters remain quite shallow throughout the movie, but the disjointed family will have to work together to make it out alive. Overall, there weren’t any dull moments in the movie, but we struggled to actually feel bad for the humans, as the lion’s rage was caused by brutal poachers, and for some reason, the movie truly drags out the suffering of the sole-surviving lion.
We found the acting performances in this film reasonably good, but we weren’t treated to very impressive performances either. Idris Elba plays a disinterested head of the family, and we have seen many better acting performances from him in the past. Nonetheless, he and the other cast members still do a decent job, but we also reckon the plot was too basic to let the characters evolve. Overall, we found Sharlto Copley’s performance the best, as he probably plays the only really likable character in the film.
The Blu-ray copy of the film comes with several special features. You’ll learn more about how the movie was made, as well as how the visual effects were handled. We were very entertained to see how the actors had to deal with the lack of an actual lion in the shots, and we were also very impressed by the overall quality of the CGI. Other than that, you’re getting a few more generic features, but all in all, you’re getting good value for your money.
Conclusion
Beast was an entertaining movie with a simple plot. As a whole, the movie succeeds to create something interesting to watch, and we were enamored by the overall quality of the animations. While the movie wasn’t always as interesting as it could have been, we found the overall formula enjoyable and the idea fairly original. We are, however, still conflicted about how the lion was submitted to constant suffering.
Beast (Blu-ray) - Movie Review,
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