‘Beast’ Review: Rip Roaring and Ridiculous

metroweekly.com:

Beast (★★☆☆☆) pulls up with a man vs. beast premise straight out of Cujo. But oddly enough, the monster movie it most brings to mind is Jaws: The Revenge.Not the high point of that franchise, the fourth Jaws, like Beast, revolves around a wild predator that targets a specific human population, not as food, but to exact revenge for crimes committed against their family.For this alternately gripping and ridiculous action-thriller, directed by Baltasar Kormákur (2 Guns), a rogue lion on a South African reserve is hellbent on revenge after poachers viciously hunt down his entire pride.That same reserve is the site of many fond memories for American surgeon Dr.

Nate Daniels, played with rugged dad-swag by Cats star Idris Elba.Wrestling with feelings over his South African-born wife’s recent death, Dr.

Nate returns to the reserve with his teen daughters, moody Mer (Iyana Halley) and snarky Norah (Leah Sava Jeffries), for some much-needed family bonding.Elba, Halley, and Jeffries etch a convincing portrait of a loving family unit at odds as they each plunge through grief alone, yet all together.Their squabbles sound like the real deal — though, as well-acted as those scenes are, the film indulges too much of the drama.