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.
“Beast” is a movie you have seen a thousand times before; a family is trapped in one location while the monster waits outside on their every move. You could compare it to “Cujo,” “Crawl,” and even “Jaws.” While the story is wholly unoriginal, director Baltasar Kormákur infuses the movie with so much suspense and nail-biting tension you could forgive its shortcomings. Idris Elba and Sharlto Copley’s performances help elevate it above mediocrity, so by the time you get to the end credits, you realize you actually had a fun time.
Dr. Nate Samuels (Elba) and his two teenage daughters, Norah (Leah Jeffries) and Meredith (Iyana Halley) head to South Africa to a game reserve where he first met his recently deceased wife many years ago. They meet up with Nate’s old friend Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley), a wildlife biologist who, along with a small group of others, keeps poachers away from the local wildlife. Martin takes them on a reserve tour, but when they reach a local village, they are shocked to discover all the residents dead, torn to shreds by an unseen assailant. They return to the road, where they meet an injured, bloodied man who claims a big lion attacked him. Martin takes his hunting rifle, disappears into the bush, and tells Nate to stay with his daughters inside the truck. Shortly after, a gunshot is heard, and Nate jumps back into the vehicle just as a giant lion lunges for him. With blood dripping from its mouth, Nate and his two girls must remain calm, but with water and supplies running out, they must formulate a plan if they are to survive.
“Beast” makes no apologies for borrowing from other horror thrillers that have come before, but director Baltasar Kormákur invests heavily in our central characters and gives them enough emotional weight that when the lion attacks, we root for them. But we also have sympathy for the creature itself. This isn’t an animal manufactured in a lab, it procreated and fathered offspring and Martin explains early on that poachers more than likely killed his pride, and now he sees all humans as a threat. For the most part, the lion is CGI, and the filmmakers cleverly allow most of the action to transpire at night, when CGI is not as easily detectable, much like the T-Rex attack in “Jurassic Park,” the combination of darkness and rain made that scene near-perfect.
There are moments up close when the CGI is evident, but thankfully we never linger too long on the creature before it races off. As a contained horror film, it is customary for characters to do brainless things; otherwise, we wouldn’t have a thriller. In one scene, while Nate is under the car trying to escape the clutches of the lion, one of his daughters jumps out of the vehicle in search of Martin, who has sustained injuries, and runs away, despite having been told by Nate to stay in the car. Scenes like this cause you to roll your eyes in bewilderment at the sheer level of ludicrousness unfolding onscreen, but at the same time, these foolish acts generate tension and emotional strain, which is the whole point of a film like this, so mission accomplished. “Beast” is what going to movies is all about; big, exciting, and dumb, so allow yourself to get caught up in the beautiful scenery of South Africa but don’t feed the animals.
In Theaters Friday, August 19th
