Mostly Musical Theatre

Beast is an okay thriller/adventure film. August 16, 2022

Idris Elba packs up his two daughters after the death of their mother for a fun-filled African savannah vacation. There is playful banter and “serious talk” as they set off on their adventure. Unfortunately, there is a large lion on the loose in the vicinity of their camp, and its mad and out for blood.

There’s lots of blood.

Nicknamed “Jaws on land” months before opening, the moniker isn’t far from wrong. You will most likely figure out who lives and who survives early in the short 90-minute film.

But it’s a fun ride to the conclusion, with Elba getting to star in another action adventure film and he gets to punch a lion. No really, they have him punching a lion. There’s lots of mumbo jumbo about poachers and how the lion is out for revenge against all people now. But really, he punches the lion.

Directed by Baltasar Kormakur, with a script from Ryan Engle, it’s a zippy hour and a half that is a good run time for this film. Expect it to head to streaming video pretty quickly, although there isn’t much else opening for the next few weeks so that it might cling to the box office for awhile.

If you go, beware it is rated R for language, bloody violence, and heart-pounding thrills. Kind of like riding Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point with blood added. It’s up to you to know your kids and their tolerance level for this type of bloody adventure. It’s scary enough that I’d probably leave my under 13’s at home for sure.