3 Short Paragraphs (Or Not): Beast

2022,  Baltasar Kormákur (Contraband) -- download

I know this is the (not even close doofus, as the next part of the sentence tells) latest thing I watched, and I still have a handful of older watches sitting in the Drafts hopper, but since we just watched Extraction 2 last night, which was preceded by rewatches of Extraction and Atomic Blonde (see previous post), I could not help but note that this movie relied heavily on a technique that Sam Hargrave is known for: the fabricated "single take" shot, in which the action is kept moving, literally, by having the camera follow its subjects, spinning around, after, through and behind them, appearing to be a long single sequence.

And breathe - fuck you love your single, run-on long sentences. And I guess this "talking to myself" is now A Thing. Funny though, considering that was pretty much the original intent, and even did happen for a handful of posts, of this blog, in that Kent and I would see a movie together and do a dual-written post, commenting on the other's writing. We need to do that more. Maybe, make it a rule for anything We See Together?

Of note, this post was meant to come hot on the stiletto heels of Charlize, but... it didn't.

Dr. Nate Samuels (Idris Elba, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance) is returning to South Africa with his two daughters, a sort of healing, reconnecting trip, after the death of his wife, their mother. Nate met his wife here years ago, in the company of now ... nature conservancy manager Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley, Hardcore Henry), who apparently spends a lot of his time hunting poachers. Nate's not in a good place. Before her death, he and his wife were on the verge of breaking up, and the quick illness & death did not bring the family closer together. His daughters are struggling. I guess Nate is hoping to find some solace and connection in the place where their mother grew up.

Battles shows the family around the reserve, including the grown lions he hand-raised from cubs, now in the wild with their own pride. And also a local village that they find ... all dead. Something, a rogue lion, has slain all the villagers. On the road back to report the incident, they come across a wounded man, and Battles choses to get out and hunt the lion. He is mauled. They are separated. The jeep crashes. And the lion, already wounded by poachers, begins harrying Nate and the girls.

The movie is more than sufficiently tense. The lion, though CGI, is shadowy & otherworldly, leaping out from the darkness. And the terrain & locations through which Nate and his girls have to navigate, is confined, localized. Much of the movie feels like a chamber piece, making use of claustrophobic restrictions to a small area. And the "single take" concept takes advantage of this, weaving us around and through these spaces, stalked by a lion, evading pursuit, not always succeeding, raises this tension.

Its not a great movie but its a functional movie. Given the small cast is more than capable in their roles, I have to say I was rather fond of it, but this probably harkens back to the concept I have mentioned on more than one occasion -- I like "small" movies. I like a condensed premise. I like focused roles. I liked this movie.