Beast (I) (2022) User Reviews

Sleep Mode Not Beast Mode. Rule #342 of Bad Movies: Kids In Survival/Disaster Films Are Totally Annoying!

[RightOnDaddio · 6/10 · 24 August 2022]

I had high hopes for this film. The trailer seems interesting enough. Idris Elba and Sharlto Copley are always good in their roles and here it's no different. This movie just doesn't have it. I wanted to like it. I tried so hard to like it, but ultimately it doesn't do its job. It doesn't strike fear into the hearts of men or anyone else for that matter. It does, however get on your last nerve. All because of the kids in this movie. It's always the kids. The kids, as in other films, get in the way. They distract. They do stupid stuff. They say stupid stuff at tense moments thus shattering said tension. As already stated, not even Elba or Copley can spiff this baby up. It's a mess.

You won't care about the family relations in this film.

You'll even feel sorry for this Lion. He has his reasons for this rampage and they're pretty solid reasons. So, go lion!

This could've been so much better.

The bear attack in The Revenant.

The gators in Crawl.

I'm not even going to bring Jaws into this.

Even the chimpanzee in Nope.

Much more realistic scenes of animals attacking humans.

A movie like this strongly depends on two things, belief in the characters and their love and connection to each other. And true terror from the creature involved.

This movie evokes neither.

Go see Nope instead.

Idris Elba punches a lion

[ferguson-6 · 5/10 · 18 August 2022]

Greetings again from the darkness. Movies featuring man versus beast date back to at least 1933 with KING KONG, and have proven to be fan favorites many times since, likely peaking with JAWS in 1975. Of course, this sub-genre has also produced too many flops to count as low-budget filmmakers have attempted to capitalize with the cheap-thrills approach to entertainment. Director Baltasar Kormakur has previously flashed his skill with nature thrillers ADRIFT (2018) and EVEREST (2015), and here he's working from a script and story by Ryan Engle (NON-STOP, 2014) and Jaime Premak Sullivan (BREAKING IN, 2018). It's tempting to call this one 'Cujo as a lion', as a tip of the cap to the 1983 adaptation of Stephen King's horror-novel, but there are many reasons not to do so.

Idris Elba plays Dr Nate Samuels, a man taking his daughters to the African savannah area where he met their mother many years prior. The mom recently passed away from the effects of cancer, and since mom and dad had separated the year before, there is tension between dad and daughters, especially the eldest, Meredith ("call me Mere"), who holds him responsible for not being there for mom. Mere is played by Iyana Halley, and younger sister Norah is played by Leah Jeffries. We quickly learn these are smart girls, spoiled by privilege and dumbfounded at the lack of Wi-Fi and cell phone coverage miles from nowhere.

Nate's old buddy Martin (Sharlto Copley) manages the protection of local wildlife and will act as their guide. One of the first sequences we see is poachers wiping out a pride of lions. However, they missed the alpha male and he is now out for revenge against all poachers ... only he, like so many these days, can't tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys. This puts Nate and the girls in danger, especially after Martin is seriously injured. Director Kormakur pulls the old "Jaws" trick by keeping the lion out of sight for a while, building suspense. Once he begins attacking, the lion is in full view for much of the film. Of course, lions are wild animals and cannot be trained to act, so what we really see are computer-generated lions with terrific growling sound effects.

The lion attacks are ferocious and do provide a certain level of fun tension with numerous jump-scares, and many will find this sufficient for movie entertainment. However, for those who want a bit more, the plot, dialogue and character decisions are often absurd and ludicrous - generating laughter where they shouldn't. Despite much of this being computer-generated, the work of Oscar winning cinematographer Phillippe Rousselot (A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT, 1992) should be noted ... it looks and feels like we are in the wild bush. The four main actors are fine, although Mr. Elba's contemplative physician transforming into quasi-superhero is a bit difficult to take. Mere's donning a JURASSIC PARK t-shirt is a nice try, but this one has more in common with Liam Neeson fighting off wolves in THE GREY (2017).

Opens in theaters on August 19, 2022.

Cheap thrills

[shweta-51657 · 7/10 · 18 August 2022]

I know when the trailer came out, we were all thinking of the GOOD 90s flick with lions in it, but, sorry, this is not The Ghost and the Darkness.

While this isnt in the same league, I am going to be honest and say I really enjoyed it. Its pretty entertaining, decent cinematography, good background music, half way decent jumpscares and thrilling scenes, overall I got a good evening out of it.

Just leave your brains out the door, because you have Mr. Idris Elba try and literally punch a lion in this film.

So fair warning, its a popcorn film, but a decent one in that. 3.5/5.

Off, this hurts!

[atmegh · 15 August 2022]

Why isn't Idris Elba getting better roles? He's better than this nonsense!

I adore him and don't want to see him on crappy roles; I don't want to waste time watching him in these silly films.

Does anyone know why he's not getting better parts or a good star vehicle? I need to know!

Old School Action Drama

[Zeus-pro · 6/10 · 15 August 2022]

Beast isn't highbrow cinema at all. The movie knows the kind of film it is and then goes and tries to elevate it by coming up with really solid technical proficiency and great acting. The movie is just 90 minutes long, so it knows that it shouldn't overstay its welcome. The ending might come off as a bit underwhelming thanks to its abrupt nature. However, the film is great entertainment and everybody should give it a chance when in the mood for a simple and straight-to-the-point kind of movie.

An African survival safari with Idris Elba and a bloodthirsty lion.

[movieman6-413-929510 · 6/10 · 14 August 2022]

Beast is a new survival thriller directed by Baltasar Kormákur, the director of 2 Guns and Everest.

The film is about Dr. Nate Daniels (Idris Elba), who, after the death of his ex-wife, takes his daughters to the South African savannah to the place where he met his ex. They are accompanied here by Nate's friend Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley), who often leads safaris for tourists.

During the safari, Martin learns that something is wrong and learns that a bloodthirsty lion has attacked the local village and killed most of the inhabitants. When they come into contact with this lion, they are quickly seen as his new prey. Now they must hide in the safari jeep and the lion survive its attacks until help arrives. Otherwise, they have to find a safe way on their own before coming face to face with the brutal lion.

With the 2015 film Everest, Baltasar Kormákur also tried to make a survival thriller about people who tried to reach the top with the cold temperatures around Mount Everest. He had made that film a bit too big with too long a running time, so you had to go through the preparations of the mountaineers for about the first half of the film before they even started climbing the mountain. He provided some long-winded moments in this film.

With his new film Beast, with a shorter running time, he presents a more exciting survival thriller about a family that has to survive in the warm savannah while they are constantly attacked by a lion. Survival thrillers about lions have become more popular since the film The Ghost and The Darkness, but with films such as Prey from 2016 or Rogue from 2020, due to lesser storylines or visual effects, they have always been difficult to succeed. Despite the fact that Beast has a simple story with the accompanying clichés from survival thrillers and also has nice, but not always the most believable visual effects, they still manage to provide an entertaining and exciting survival thriller.

Idris Elba manages to carry the film well as the main character, who tries to improve the bond with his estranged daughters after a tragic experience. Iyana Halley and Leah Jeffries also know how to portray the two daughters in an appropriate way. One does have more acting experience than the other, but this is also due to the standard story of the film. It is also nice to see the South African actor Sharlto Copley in this film as a South African safari guide, who knows the areas and animals well.

Beautifully shot in the real African savannah, the film shows beautiful images of these landscapes and of the different animal species that live here. This way the film can come across as if you are really on a safari in the African savannah and you will also learn the necessary information about these areas and animal species. The film also responds somewhat to the current problems of the African natural landscapes and the different animal species that live here. So they try to draw some attention to this.

Brought a Knife to a Lion Fight!

[MelvinTheCritic · 4/10 · 19 August 2022]

1. Idris sees his friend get chummy, up close and personal with a pride of lions -> IMMEDIATELY LEAVE because you have daughters and you're not risking a catastrophe. MOVIE OVER.

2. Idris sees a whole village mauled to death -> IMMEDIATELY LEAVE because you have daughters and you're not risking a catastrophe. MOVIE OVER.

3. Idris sees a bloody survivor on the way out -> PUT GUY IN CAR & IMMEDIATELY LEAVE because you have daughters and you're not risking a catastrophe. MOVIE OVER.

4. Idris' friend has lion bite and is about pass out -> SAY A PRAYER & IMMEDIATELY LEAVE because you have daughters and you're not risking a catastrophe. MOVIE OVER.

5. Stopping to sew everyone up.

6. Attending to daughters wounds instead of driving away IMMEDIATELY.

7. Attending to daughters wounds instead of securing the poacher's building IMMEDIATELY.

8. Going to fight a lion with a knife.

9. Surviving a fight with a lion for more than 3 seconds.

10. Getting 2 stabs in on the lion with a knife.

11. Lion shakes off the car drop off a cliff.

12. Lion shakes off being lit on fire.

13. Lion shakes off group of poachers firing at him with semi-automatic and automatic rifles.

14. Lion finds them after they drive away in a vehicle for presumably miles.

15. Vehicle low on gas, so let's stop.

16. Girls do whatever they want. Defiant. Unbothered. But then scared at times.

17. Girl stabs the lion with a tranquilizer.

18. Kicking the lion in the face works repeatedly.

19. Lions baiting traps.

20. Lions avenging their pride.

21. Lions murdering people.

22. I could keep going, but why?

A Man's Fight Against Death Incarnate

[JackCowart34 · 6/10 · 16 September 2022]

Beast delivers on its core premise but fails to exceed expectations. To elaborate, occasionally you'll attend a movie for one reason and end up appreciating it for a different reason all together. This is not one of those movies. However, there are a few outlier scenes within the film that are far superior to the baseline the movie sets for itself. My personal favorite is a truly touching monologue delivered by Elba in the first act of the film in which he expresses his regret at his inability to save his wife from terminal cancer. Another, obviously, is the brutal fight scene between Elba and the lion in the final act that is sure to cause the more delicate audience members to look away. As for me, my eyes were glued to the screen. Unfortunately, the writing stymied the film's momentum, as the middle third struggled to bridge the gap between the onset of the attack and the climactic ending. The children's characters weren't particularly well realized either, partly because of their decision-making (which you can also attribute to the writing), and partly because of subpar acting. But ultimately, you pretty much get what you expect: Idris Elba going to war against a massive lion to protect his family.

Very bad

[mobileamazonlegends · 4/10 · 22 September 2022]

What a disappointment. Can't they make movies like this without very annoying kids? This is one of the worst movies I have seen this year. The kids were infuriating, does not listen and just do whatever they wanted to do. The older sister just randomly says things about their mother even when their trapped inside the car and not knowing if their gonna make it out alive. She went out and risked her life to save Martin when the lion was around and when Martin died it was just like they didn't care that much anymore because she's hurt. I was just waiting for Idris to slap them. What were those nonsense dream sequences? His wife died from cancer and he always dreams that she's in some magical Wakanda afterlife place. The ending was very predictable too.

This should have been 10/10 for me if those kids were mauled and eaten by that mutant-like lion.

Decent 6/10.

[Sablam · 6/10 · 14 August 2022]

The movie had some decent moments. Elba and Copley were nice to watch. Kinda reminded me off the oldschool (animalhuntsyou)action movies. Was kinda predictable but that doesnt bother me with this kind of film. I feel people are a but overreacting with their low scores and their 'the movie was so unrealistic' reviews. If the movie took the realistic route it would've been very boring.. Just take a snack and a drink, sit back and relax. An ideal 'chilltime' action flick!

6/10!

Feed the beast

[eric-312-417476 · 2/10 · 20 August 2022]

Ridiculous, annoying actor/character actions will make you want to feed these people to the lion. Especially the older daughter. I've not been this annoyed by a character in a long time. I think we are supposed to feel for her plight and her fear but all I wanted to do was to make her shut up. Even before the lion came.

And then There are the contrivances that are necessary because had these characters had brains they wouldn't be in as much trouble. We are a step Ahead of every jump scare, every plot point, every action. It's as if the writer and director have never had an original thought.

I've never thought Cujo was a great movie but at least you wanted the people to survive.

Entertaining

[hammerofthehouse · 8/10 · 19 August 2022]

This movie kept my attention for the duration of the entire film. There were several moments when the audience was jump scared, me included. Suspend your disbelief and just enjoy.

Tense and gripping, poor character decisions

[whatgift · 7/10 · 16 September 2022]

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this, but was pleasantly surprised - it is a well acted, beautifully shot and fast paced thriller!

The lion, while clearly CGI, looks good and is mostly believable, and the tension that came with its random appearances had everyone in the theatre I was in mesmerised. The viewer, like the characters, are trying to relate to one another while constantly thinking how they are going to escape the situation and what the lion might do next.

It is let down by several monumentally stupid decisions made by the main characters, including the lion. There's also some cliched elements in the story.

Well worth the watch despite its shortcomings.

The writers/director clearly have never owned a cat

[FeastMode · 2/10 · 24 August 2022]

Other headlines I thought about using are "Rooting for the lion" and simply "Idiots." This movie is so dumb. And this is coming from someone who frequently enjoys dumb stuff. I'm the target audience for this type of movie. Yet I couldn't stop noticing how dumb everything was.

And there is a variety of dumb. The most obvious are the idiots that fill this movie. It's staggering the amount of times a character does the worst possible thing. Don't get me started on the forced family drama. It made me want the lion to eat them.

But the parts that annoyed me the most have to do with the lion. The people who made this movie either did zero research on lions, or didn't care and assumed the audience is stupid. They hope you don't know that cats can see in the dark. Or that cats can smell their prey. Or that cats have a keen sense of hearing.

(Infomercial voice) And that's not all! This lion can almost fit its entire head under a car, but doesn't use his arm to reach. Cats can reach at least half the length of their body with their arm. Also, this lion has a thousand chances for killshots and decides not to take them.

This is turning into a rant, but I can't help it. Cats are lethal predators. Even little house cats HUNT AND DESTROY without mercy. This lion has to be the worst lion in the history of lions. Apparently this lion's weakness is small knives. Ugh. That would be like fighting a linebacker with a needle.

Why not take advantage of the R-rating? This is the perfect kind of movie to go extra bloody and violent. But it's so tame. Why did they CG the humans in scenes with CG lions? It's very noticeable. Why is this listed as horror? It's not scary.

In conclusion... terrible movie. I left the theater thinking 3 stars, but after writing this review, it's a 2. (1 viewing, UltraScreen 8/23/2022)

The Ghost and The Darkness... not

[kaintrust · 14 August 2022]

Up to this day The Ghost and The Darkness is the top movie for me for lion survival movies. What made it so great was the story itself. 2 male lion made a bloodbath in their era.

There was no option for me to compare each other. This movie is not based on real story like The Ghost and The Darkness but still it is dull. I really like Idris Elba's acting in general but even he couldnt save it and in fact he kind of underplayed his role. CGI lion was like a kitten, that made me think all the budget went to Idris and they made the CGI lion whatever left from the budget.

Entertaining

[iammustaf_a · 6/10 · 20 August 2022]

I watched this in 4DX, with moving chairs and extra immersion techniques in the theater. It was fun and mindlessly entertaining. Good to watch on a summer weekend where there's nothing else to do. I'd watch it again on TV. Also, I feel Idris Elba starred in this movie purely to solidify his chances for Bond. He's made this movie well worth it.

My worst nightmare

[jtindahouse · 7/10 · 14 September 2022]

Experiencing this movie would be a living hell for me. Give me a serial killer chasing me over this any day of the week. When your only escape from a lion is to wade deep into an African swamp that you've recently seen crocodiles and snakes plunge into, kill me now Mr Lion. This movie was a fun ride.

At first I was a little worried the children were going to annoy me. Their introductions were quite annoying. They seemed like bratty teenagers. But as the film went along they mellowed out and actually became a decent addition to the film.

The lion in this movie is constructed very much like any other horror movie villain. It can be heard from miles away when it needs to be, and yet it can also sneak up on people out of nowhere and just appear. It's an elite hunter when it needs to be, however when the main family are the ones in danger it becomes completely clueless and can't see/smell them from a metre above its head. It can be quite frustrating to watch at times.

The CGI on animals doesn't seem to have been perfected yet. I guess it's because we've all seen so many animals in our lives that we know exactly how they should look. The lions in this movie do look disappointingly fake though it has to be said.

'Beast' was a decent watch. It's a fairly safe film for the most part, but it doesn't overstay its welcome and it's reasonably entertaining for the majority of the 90 minutes. 7/10.

Forced family drama with decent cgi

[mason25 · 3/10 · 27 August 2022]

Nothing new here. Poor plot.

Terrible and entirely unnecessary forced family drama. Which leads in to terrible dialogs and even worse nonsensical decisions made by the children.

Some of which lead to a grown man punching and kicking a massive lion.... If you can kick and punch a lion, you're within it's grasp, and those claws and teeth are no joke.

Getting slashed or bitten to the bone numerous times.... I dare say you won't exactly be very mobile, regardless of how determined you are or how full of adrenaline.

The ONLY smart thing in the entire movie was the younger daughter stabbing the lion when it somehow couldn't reach dad under the suv.

His fight with the lion at the end was beyond stupid, 2 bites at most and he would've been done for, but nope, not our hero. At least 7 or 8 massive bites from a set of jaws that average around 650 PSI bite force. Us lowly humans don't manage a 5th of that.

Perfectly entertaining for what it is

[ethanbresnett · 6/10 · 8 September 2022]

Beast doesn't really offer up many surprises. There's a rogue bloodthirsty lion chasing Idris Elba and his family through the wilds of South Africa. If that doesn't sound like your cup of tea then this film won't be for you, as there is no depth or complexity beyond this simple premise.

Simple is not meant as a slight however. Simple and effective I would say of this film. There is a decent amount of tension, an engaging performance from Elba, and some gorgeous shots of the African landscape. The pacing is pretty spot on too, which is a huge relief in a film like this, where there can be a tendency for things to drag.

One of my big pet peeves, and it's a common pitfall of this genre, is for characters to commit truly bonkers and frustrating acts which are very annoying to watch. "Stay in the car". Character proceeds to inexplicably leave the car for no reason etc etc. When a murderous lion is on a rampage there's no need to force tension through moronic character decisions, and there are too many examples of this in Beast. These cheap ways of creating tension do weaken the overall experience and make it hard to warm to the characters in some ways.

There are definitely better films out there in this genre, such as Crawl or The Shallows, but Beast does a pretty solid job of creating a tense experience, even if it never quite manages to truly excite.

I was fuming

[AfricanBro · 3/10 · 19 August 2022]

I had to rewrite this because the first one was more of a rant with spoilers. You know those moments someone attempts to be a hero and somebody else goes "you're either really brave, or really stupid", well this is full of the latter. All the main actors keep making the most illogical decisions and the beast hunting them's actions also didn't make sense. Somebody said the writers think we're stupid. Idris Elba deserves better than this, even he couldn't save it. The script sucked, tries to hold emotional weight at times but it either falls flat or feels forced, especially from the stubborn daughter. Camera work sucked too, it looked like it was filmed by a regular guy walking around with a camera, not a professional especially when following in tight spaces, it was unstable. At times, it's like those videos of a school fight and the person recording keeps moving around and it's just commotion. It also starts out like a horror and is full of jump scares, still deciding if that's a good thing or not. I however loved that they cast locals for this, because that "African accent" Hollywood likes to use bugs me because I've never met anyone who speaks like that; like some director in the 80's decided this is how we sound and Hollywood still oblivious to it years later. So points for the accent. But the movie's still not worth the watch, it's just a family with really bad survival instincts and I haven't been this infuriated during a movie in recent memory. One of those movies that makes you wanna reach into the screen and knock some sense into the characters.

Savage Lion King

[Pairic · 7/10 · 30 August 2022]

Beast: I won't lionise Idris Elba but he's pretty nifty as Nate who fights a rogue lion. There is some family filler as well, he's a widower with two troubled teen daughters, the three of them visit a animal reserve in South Africa near where Nate's wife grew up. The lion goes rogue because poachers killed the rest of his pride. He displays the odd behaviour that has been recorded in only a few cases - attacking humans without provocation, killing them and not eating them afterwards. Some great scenes of fighting off a lion who tries to get into a crashed land rover, this is Jaws on land, existential terror as the lion tries to bite you through the windows. The lion takes his prey silently when he chooses but will get loudly in your face as well. The chase/battle continues outdoors and in the confines of a ruined church. Maybe the real beasts are the poachers though. I felt like cheering as the lion chomped on them. Not a classic but there are some good jump scares and the drama is maintained rising to tension at appropriate points. Directed by Baltasar Kormákur from a screenplay by Ryan Engle. 7/10.

The Director thinks audience are fools.

[tmbrose · 4/10 · 15 August 2022]

Although the movie had good sense of thrill, the negative marks goes only to the Director here.

For example: Leaving the doors open when a lion is chasing you...

Stopping the car in the middle of the jungle when there is enough fuel and a lion is chasing you.

Keeping the Car windows and door open to invite the lion.

Fighting the lion with a knife.

These points had pulled down the rating of what could have been a very good movie.

I like these type of movies

[donumdei · 10/10 · 24 September 2022]

I don't understand all these people complaining how lion is not doing this or that. I mean if the lion killed everyone first attempt movie would be 20 min tops. I love Wild animal movies and this was a good one, better than most. I agree with everyone that the oldest daughter is super annoying and stubborn but these type of movies always have one annoying character. I love Africa and specially lions. This is cool movie just don't be judgmental and don't expect realism, it's not supposed to be documentary.

Just watch it, cool nature and awesome lion. I don't know what else to write. I just have to fill up 600 characters.

Another solidly (albeit cliche) crafted creature feature with great performances and safari scenery.

[tresm87 · 7/10 · 12 August 2022]

Seems like the creature feature genre has been bolstered of late in the last 5 years or so. Sure we will always have shark attack, godzilla, and kong films but it's nice to see a return to other beasts of a different breed for the thriller genre. We had these by the dozen in the 80s and 90s, so films like Crawl and Beast are a great throwback imo.

Idris Elba was a perfect choice for this particular setting and circumstance and shows great versatility and intensity once again. The safari dangers are out on full display with supreme environmental effectiveness. Sharlto Copley is once again one of the most underrated actors around and adds a great element to the overall product. The cgi is standard but it does the trick. Plotting is definitely by the numbers but that's to be expected.

Overall it's a solid offering in the creature feature genre that doesn't break any new ground but is none the less a fun ride.

The Disobedient Kids Ruin Movie

[ibewalsh-738-269071 · 1/10 · 9 October 2022]

Those girls drove me NUTS! They don't listen to any their father says even when their lives depend on it. They are always talking over him and asking stupid questions. The movie would have been better without those two annoying characters. If those two idiots are edited out of the move I give it a 6/10 rating. Mr. Elba is always good and there is a lot of action and suspense. You can almost sense how hot it is in Africa and and without reliable communication (phone, radio or cell phone), how fragile life can be, even IF you're not being stalked by an angry lion who, sadly, had his pride murdered by poachers.