Beast Movie Review

“Beast” has a dangerous creature as the star, a beast so large and muscular, one that stalks and moves with a ferocious manner that has eyes that smolder and burn… Oh, yeah – there is also a wild lion. Really, the star is Idris Elba in the lead role. But just as intriguing is the African lion who in his own habitat, while everyone else can be uninvited dinner guests. Or maybe just dinner…

In a small plane over the far reaches of the African savannah is Dr. Nate Samuels (played by Idris Elba). He is visiting the country where his wife was born. She has recently passed away, and they had not been very close at the end. He is there with his two daughters. The oldest is a teenager named Meredith (played by Iyana Halley). She is into photography, and she goes by ‘Mer’. His younger daughter is named Norah (played by Leah Sava Jeffries).

The girls are upset that Nate had spent so much time away, and he never was around when their Mom got sick. Nate is kicking himself for being away, because the marriage was faltering. But this can be a new start, to go back and find their Mom’s old village. He will get guidance from an old family friend – he is a local game warden named Martin (played by Sharlto Copley). He knows that the local villagers and the wild animals depend on each other.

But lately there has been a surge of ruthless poachers. They come into an area like a hoodlum street gang. They set up on the animal’s turf, then set up traps. They are an uncaring and murderous lot. Martin tells them that just the past week; these evil poachers killed an entire lion pride. There was one alpha male that got away. And right now, that beast is really pissed…

Nate goes with Martin in his Land-Rover, along with Norah and Mer. They will be able to visit many of the small villages in this area, where the land borders a protected wildlife refuge. But when there big game poachers about, they do not care where the animals are. Martin stops by a small section where a pride of lions are resting on the boulders. Martin raised the two males from cubs. Now when they see him, they get all playful and giddy — even now when they are full grown adult males.

Martin meets an assistant, and they look at the female lion. She looks injured, but they cannot get close at all. She must have a run-in with the poachers. If Martin or anyone else gets too close, the male lions will attack. That is what they will do to protect the pride. They will fight to the end to defend their family — Martin tells Nate this is the internal instinct that the beasts will never outgrow. Martin and the assistant bring out the tranquilizer gun and the darts. Just in case…

But it all seems good, so they all drive off to a different little village. This one is right in the nature refuge. There are hills all around, there is not any radio reception. The walkie-talkies that they have will work fine. This new village has some unpleasant surprises for Martin and Nate. They go to investigate, and they find nothing but death. A vicious wild beast has torn through the village. It is just the type of action a single alpha male who is pissed that his entire pride has been killed might take.

The four in the vehicle come across a severely injured man in the road. He is a villager who has escaped the wrath of the mighty beast when it attacked the village. Martin takes off with the tranq gun. Nate attempts to help the dying man. But soon all hell breaks loose. Martin has been mauled and is critically injured. Nate tries to follow where Martin has gone, but the lion appears. So Nate gets back to the vehicle, then Nate and the girls take off quickly. The lion is after them, and the Land-Rover crashes into a tree.

Nate and the girls must survive. They must try and help Martin, if he is still alive. Nate must fend off the lion and he tries to locate Martin, but he leaves the two girls behind. They are all soon safely back in the vehicle, but they are not able to move it. There is very little water, and the tranq gun is broken. Martin is cared for by Nate, since he is a doctor. The girls are ready to help as they can. But Mer and Norah have never have been more afraid.

Other trucks come by the four stranded and injured people in the stranded vehicle. But these are heartless poachers. They are looking for that lion that got away. They are not happy that Martin is there, since a game warden can alert authorities. But what if there was only a mean, huge lion that was hanging around to get rid of the poachers. Well, how about that – The poachers get attacked.

Will Nate be able to find the keys to one of the trucks so he can load his daughters in there and get a move on? Can Martin find a way to stop the lion, even if he must come to his own end? Will the lion get the best of an unarmed Nate? Or will Nate find the will to defend his own family? Does Nate have the same internal instinct that the beasts will never outgrow?

“Beast” is an action-packed man-versus-beast movie that moves quickly and hardly ever pauses to take a breath. The swooping camera work gives you a feeling of being right there in the middle of the tumult. Idris Elba takes this role of a recent widower and pushes into overdrive. He is working on his own version of the ‘Stages of Grief’. He has made it to the ‘Fighting a Ferocious Lion with your Bare hands’ stage.

Perhaps the plot and story structure do not leave much room for character development. But when you have the imminent Fear of Death, you can bypass any of that other fluffy stuff. This is a straight-to-the-point survival story, and the instinct of a protective father watching out for his kids. The screen presence of Idris Elba makes up for any lack of nuance in the story. Everyone else in this movie is also really very good.

“Beast” is a wild ride in the wilds of Africa, with a compelling story of survival and family bonds that face off against a wild animal and take it to a thrilling conclusion.