Beast Has Idris Elba Dominating An Entertaining By-The-Numbers Survival Thriller

      In the case of storylines feeling basic, sometimes it takes the charismatic performance of its main star to elevate it into being something that's both entertaining and engaging to watch. With Universal Pictures Beast, multi-talented megastar Idris Elba goes toe to toe with a killer Lion in a serviceably fun edge-of-your-seat adventure, despite its plot often feeling predictable. 

      Beast's plot focuses on recently widowed Dr. Nate Daniels (Idris Elba) and his two teenage daughters traveling to a South African game reserve that's managed by an old family friend (Sharlto Copley). However, when a bloodthirsty Lion begins stalking them, their journey of healing soon turns into a fearsome fight for survival. Beast feels like a fun throwback to classic man vs nature films like The Edge (1998) and The Grey with Liam Neeson. Like those films, the main character and his family are stuck in the wilderness and fighting to survive while being stalked by an apex predator. While Beast offers nothing new for the concept of man vs nature, it utilizes its concept fairly well while offering fast-paced thrills. If nothing else, audiences should get a kick out of seeing Idris Elba fighting a Lion.

     With any stranded in the wilderness film, the performances from its cast are key in terms of it working to maximum effect. Idris Elba delivers a compelling performance as widowed husband Dr. Nate Samuels, whose determined to protect his children at all costs against the beast. Elba is fantastic here and holds the audiences interest throughout the story. Iyana Halley greatly impresses as Nate's rebellious and argumentative daughter Meredith Samuels, who still carries anger and frustration over her father distancing himself from the family after her parents separation and mother's passing. Halley is strong here with her and Elba allowing the audience to sympathize with their dynamic. Along with Halley, Leah Sava Jeffries also impresses as Meredith's you get sister Norah Samuels, whose revealed to be more sensitive and Sharlto Copley giving a likable presence as gun-toting Wildlife biologist and Nate's old friend Martin. Though the cast is minimal, Beast's ensemble does a fantastic job with the roles given to them and deliver performances that feel real and display raw emotion.

      As far as directing goes, Baltasar Kormakur does a sufficient job of building up the suspense while establishing some fairly decent jump scares. The violence is presented as being extreme with intense sequences featuring severely injured bodies including blood and gore being shown with other deaths happening off camera. The cinematography makes effective usage of the films landscape while making sure to zoom in on the frightened faces of the main characters. The Lion is presented as being an enormously frightening figure that's not only calculated with his strikes, but is often shown with a bloody mouth that indicates his level of brutality. Some of the films most thrilling moments involve the humans interacting with the Lion whether its the latter hunting them down, or the main characters fending him off in order to survive. At 93 minutes, Beast is fast-moving with a pace that feels ideal as it keeps things consistently moving. Whereas the films opening scene is chilling and effectively establishes the tone of the film, the rest of the movie exercises restraint in presenting the intensity of the plot as it rightfully settles for steadily building up the suspense. Regardless of whether one feels that the plot for Beast falls within the category of being average, Kormakur makes the most of the script and creates an environment that generates some solid suspense while staying true to the belief that showing less leaves more of an impact with audiences. 

      In terms of scriptwriting, Beast's script places heavy emphasis on themes pertaining to teamwork and improving the communication with ones children as evidenced by the subplot involving Nate and his daughter. Along with their dynamic, the script places heavy emphasis on the concept of teamwork with Nate's family and his old friend Martin all working together to outsmart as well as survive against the Lion. Within all the films intense action, its heart lies within the surprisingly tender father and daughter moments with them grieving and reconciling over the death of their wife/mother. Nate's oldest daughter expresses visible frustration at her father for not being present enough during her passing, along with the latter blaming himself for not being able to help her during her illness. These moments, though brief, are significant because they not only establish the foundation for the family dynamic, but also gets the audience invested in their characters while fearing for their well-being when the Lion strikes. Other interesting subplots are introduced but are barely touched upon such as the adding of poachers into the story being used as a main reason as to why the Lion chooses to be so aggressive. The implication of Poachers being described as being extraordinarily cruel and deserving of the Lion's rage is never fully explored in addition to the latter just attacking everyone rather than having a distinct pattern. Despite this flaw with the script, the writers attempt to make up for this shortcoming by presenting the audience with numerous nail-biting moments in which they're led to believe that one of the main characters could actually fall prey to the Lion. Though a predictable tactic, it ultimately proves to be effective.

      While the screenplay does a fairly decent job of setting up the main characters and making them sympathetic to audiences, the rest of the film surrounding them can't help but feel rather bland as there isn't much else to it outside of the Lion doing battle with Idris Elba. Though with an incentive like that for audiences, not much else is needed. As a fast-paced form of entertainment, Beast lives up to its promise of delivering old-fashioned suspense while leaning on the strong presence of its main star to carry the story whenever it stalls. In that regard, it gets the job done, though nothing more should be expected from it.

Final Verdict: Worth A Watch Though Don't Expect It To Reinvent The Wheel.

Images Courtesy Of Universal Pictures.