La bête

I know when the trailer came out, we were all thinking of the GOOD 90s flick with lions in it, but, sorry, this is not The Ghost and the Darkness.

While this isnt in the same league, I am going to be honest and say I really enjoyed it. Its pretty entertaining, decent cinematography, good background music, half way decent jumpscares and thrilling scenes, overall I got a good evening out of it.

Just leave your brains out the door, because you have Mr. Idris Elba try and literally punch a lion in this film.

So fair warning, its a popcorn film, but a decent one in that. 3.5/5.

Ridiculous, annoying actor/character actions will make you want to feed these people to the lion. Especially the older daughter. I've not been this annoyed by a character in a long time. I think we are supposed to feel for her plight and her fear but all I wanted to do was to make her shut up. Even before the lion came.

And then There are the contrivances that are necessary because had these characters had brains they wouldn't be in as much trouble. We are a step Ahead of every jump scare, every plot point, every action. It's as if the writer and director have never had an original thought.

I've never thought Cujo was a great movie but at least you wanted the people to survive.

Up to this day The Ghost and The Darkness is the top movie for me for lion survival movies. What made it so great was the story itself. 2 male lion made a bloodbath in their era.

There was no option for me to compare each other. This movie is not based on real story like The Ghost and The Darkness but still it is dull. I really like Idris Elba's acting in general but even he couldnt save it and in fact he kind of underplayed his role. CGI lion was like a kitten, that made me think all the budget went to Idris and they made the CGI lion whatever left from the budget.

I had high hopes for this film. The trailer seems interesting enough. Idris Elba and Sharlto Copley are always good in their roles and here it's no different. This movie just doesn't have it. I wanted to like it. I tried so hard to like it, but ultimately it doesn't do its job. It doesn't strike fear into the hearts of men or anyone else for that matter. It does, however get on your last nerve. All because of the kids in this movie. It's always the kids. The kids, as in other films, get in the way. They distract. They do stupid stuff. They say stupid stuff at tense moments thus shattering said tension. As already stated, not even Elba or Copley can spiff this baby up. It's a mess.

You won't care about the family relations in this film.

You'll even feel sorry for this Lion. He has his reasons for this rampage and they're pretty solid reasons. So, go lion!

This could've been so much better.

The bear attack in The Revenant.

The gators in Crawl.

I'm not even going to bring Jaws into this.

Even the chimpanzee in Nope.

Much more realistic scenes of animals attacking humans.

A movie like this strongly depends on two things, belief in the characters and their love and connection to each other. And true terror from the creature involved.

This movie evokes neither.

Go see Nope instead.

The movie had some decent moments. Elba and Copley were nice to watch. Kinda reminded me off the oldschool (animalhuntsyou)action movies. Was kinda predictable but that doesnt bother me with this kind of film. I feel people are a but overreacting with their low scores and their 'the movie was so unrealistic' reviews. If the movie took the realistic route it would've been very boring.. Just take a snack and a drink, sit back and relax. An ideal 'chilltime' action flick!

6/10!