★★★1/2 Baltasar Kormákur is an interesting director who once competed at Bafici with his feature debut Reikjavik 101, and who showed two elements there: a taste for making films and the intention of going straight to the center of each scene. He did some thrillers and here, Beast. Basically: a bloodthirsty lion (with reasons) chases a biologist and his two daughters in the African savannah. The movie buff can see here traces of Jaws, Predator, Jurassic Park and Talons, the one with
Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas. There is a problem: the idea of “dad reconnects with his daughters”, which subtracts with a cliché what it would add without explaining itself. And another: the appearance of “bad guys” who only lengthen the footage. But beyond that, the suspense is effective, the beast remains as it should -and because that’s how it works- for a long time off screen (creating fear) and the protagonist is, as in classic Hollywood, not only an actor but a presence: Idris Elba, who carries a large part of the film on her shoulder.
