BEAST -- Australia's Warrior

Review by Steve Barton II

The world of mixed martial arts has become a global phenomenon over the last 20 years. With the quick rise of the UFC, it has often become a term for people who aren’t fully familiar with the sport of MMA. With the rise in popularity, Hollywood quickly sank their teeth into the sport and there have been plenty of attempts at making the next best sports drama. There were several attempts early on with Fighting, Never Back Down and more recently (and refined) with The Smashing Machine. The current champion of the MMA sub-genre is 2011’s Warrior, but Beast arrives in the cage over fifteen years later to attempt a title change. Beast follows an MMA legend, Patton James (Daniel MacPherson) many years after his career ended. He works as a fisherman to earn an honest living for his family. As his bills pile up and his family’s needs become larger, he’s pulled back into the cage for one big payday.

If that plot description sounds familiar to you, it’s because it’s quite similar to many classics like Warrior and (ironically) Cinderella Man. In Beast, they pack in a sick child, another kid on the way, losing his job and having an addict brother causing trouble to really build up the stakes for poor Patton. While those are all serious reasons and solid motivation, only a few of them fully build to be emotionally impactful while the others almost feel forgotten by the end. The cheese-filled dialogue may begin to make you feel hungry by the halfway point, but the dynamic camera may satiate you until it’s over. The fight choreography, shot selection and editing teams made the sequences look solid. It’s also refreshing to see Beast work with the ONE fight promotion over the UFC and give ONE more of the spotlight to the American audiences.

The production of Beast was executed with a near fully Australian cast, minus the kiwi Russell Crowe. Daniel MacPherson did good work as the lead and committed completely to becoming a fighter for this film. Daniel even ended the shoot with a few broken bones and other injuries after his final performance with his arch rival, Xavier Grau (Bren Foster). While some of the emotional scenes between Patton and his wife didn’t land well, his scenes with the always great Rusell Crowe filled the gaps. Crowe sells his character of an aged veteran of the fight game who is living with a deep, emotional grudge perfectly. When Crowe and MacPherson break down and share their true feelings, even the coldest hearts will feel the heat from the screen.

Overall, Beast is a good watch for fight fans and enjoyers of sports dramas, but it’s not the next Rocky. There is a predictable plot and a few less than average actors, but the stuff that matters most works well. The lead performances bring heart and the fight scenes rival some of the best on a technical level. The addition of Luke Hemsworth was a bit distracting, but he plays the sly, evil fight promoter quite well. Luke's face is incredibly similar to his brother, Chris' and that added to the distraction, but also made it quite humorous. The rest of the supporting cast fills out the film well, especially Patton's training team with George Burgess and Amy Shark. If you’d love to see a feel-good underdog story from down under, look no further than Beast.

Beast is playing in theaters starting April 10th

Rating: 3/5