Beast

Kormákur has always struck me as a more or less competent director who doesn't really care what he's making. This time, however, Beast is just a sometimes unbearably silly B-movie, where you might still enjoy the ultra-long shots that the film is composed of and how difficult they must have been to execute, assuming you could tell they were difficult to execute. Instead, virtually any potential technical problem in a scene is solved here with post-production effects or scenes made entirely of CGI, which of course look terrible. Idiotic B-movies can be fun in that you occasionally think "how the hell did they do that?", "how many times did they have to shoot that?", or "I'm surprised that actor didn't get hurt." When the challenges are solved by computer, all that's left is the idiocy. (2022-11-13)

A mad Scar leaving more people bleeding in Africa than a hemorrhagic fever vs. an incomplete city family on much-needed team building. Baltasar Kormákur tries to elevate a run-of-the-mill animal attack B-movie with long shots and fairly decent CGI, borrowing bits here and there (the visions of the widower à la The Grey, Attenborough’s park), but his futile battle with the dumb script strips away the technical finesse down to the bone. In the finale, which resembled The Lion King crossed with a duel between Elba’s Harmonica and a lion-maned Frank, all I was missing was for Rafiki to turn around, bend over, and show us what we’re supposed to think. (2022-11-24)

Experienced Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur delivers a very successful and high quality genre film with a simple premise but all the more effective execution. It doesn't aim too high and it works well in pretty much everything it tries to do. If you enjoyed Aja's Crawl a few years ago, Beast might be something for you. And there aren't that many quality horror films about killer beasts. (2022-08-10)

A suspenseful, technically well made survival thriller, unfortunately with a mediocre and rather wobbly script. Idris Elba and his two restless daughters go to South Africa to reminisce about their mother, and on the trip they encounter the devious and vengeful Simba. Nonsensical decisions needlessly clash with terrific direction and amazing cinematography. Steven Price's score pulses brilliantly and the acting is pretty good too. The pleasantly grounded Sharlto Copley was a surprise. And the lion looks really good. (2024-05-03)

A stereotypical survival drama that gets plus points for the lion, but otherwise doesn't score that much. The visuals of the predator are not impressive, the suspense didn't work for me, and there's a drastic lack of a strong enough background for the main character to make the viewer care about him at least in part. It doesn't offend, but I was expecting a more polished ride with more genre fun or innovation. (2022-09-26)