Beast review: Idris Elba takes on the Jaws of the Savannah
There can’t be many actors who keep as busy as Idris Elba, and that’s without all the stories linking him to James Bond. The Londoner has five films out in 2022, having appeared in Sonic The Hedgehog 2 and Thor Love and Thunder already. The third release in that list is Beast, an action-thriller from director Baltasar Kormákur (Everest, 2 Guns).
Elba plays Dr. Nate Samuels, a widower taking his two daughters Meredith (Iyana Halley) and Norah (Leah Sava Jeffries) to the wilds of South Africa, where he first met their late mother. They spend their time exploring with Nate’s old friend Martin (Sharlto Copley), a wildlife biologist. The trip of a lifetime turns ugly when a rogue lion attacks, injuring Martin and trapping the family in unknown territory.
For once, we have a film that does what the trailers say. If it looks like this is a straight fight between Elba and a big CGI lion, that’s because it is. This stripped-down thriller, which is less than ninety minutes without credits, pits man vs beast in B-Movie fashion. Kormákur does a great job of making the situation as nail-biting as possible, while also managing to muster some sympathy for the animal, a kind of symbolic strike back at mankind’s hunting practices.
When roars aren’t being heard, the drama is middling at best. The setting allows for a big chunk of exposition, and there are some real howlers in the clunky script (“I have a rainbow of emotions at my disposal!” is declared in an argument between siblings). It’s a film that requires presence rather than complexity, and fortunately Elba has that in abundance. He and Copley are believable buddies, while his conviction helps guide you through the plot’s stretches in logic.
The sort of film that Liam Neeson would have devoured ten years ago, Beast is solid entertainment that roars its way through a short running time. With the right audience it could be the surprise hit of the year, and prove Elba is a star with or without 007’s tuxedo.