‘Beast’ roars for your attention | movie review

In Beast, a doctor and his two young daughters find themselves at the wrong end of a lion’s taste for vengeance as they become trapped in the South African bush

Over the running time of Beast, wildlife biologist and animal sanctuary protector Martin (Sharlto Copley) remarks a few times that what is happening isn’t normal. That being a lion on a path of vengeance through the South African grasslands after his pride is killed by a group of poachers. Most lions will kill to eat and generally avoid humans. This one is doing the exact opposite, leaving bodies behind in his wake. Why? The movie doesn’t exactly tell us. Rather than wrapping some wild exposition about the lion being infected by radioactive waste dumped by a nearby nuclear plant, Beast spares us from the unnecessary details and delivers what we want: Man vs animal. In that way, at its core, it’s a perfect B-movie.

However, it’s more than that largely thanks to director Baltasar Kormákur and actor Idris Elba who elevate the schlo…