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Idris Elba. © 2022. Universal Pictures, Will Packer Productions, and RVK Studios. Directed by Baltasar Kormákur. We are now in the Lion's territory
I would never see one day a film about Idris Elba fighting against a CGI lion that has better visual effects than most of the phase 4 MCU projects. But here we are. This film was pretty entertaining and while it has its flaws, this film just wants the audience to be entertained. It's a big fucking lion for Christ sake. This ain't Scorsese level of filmmaking, it's basically the summer's The Meg but with lions. Join me in South Africa and explore this wild jungle of animals and we might see Idris Elba fighting a green screen guy in the middle of nowhere. Recently widowed Dr. Nate Daniels and his two teenage daughters travel to a South African game reserve managed by Martin Battles, an old family friend, and wildlife biologist. However, what begins as a journey of healing soon turns into a fearsome fight for survival when a lion, a survivor of bloodthirsty poachers, begins stalking them. This film was pretty tense which I was surprised. There were quite a few jumpscares that actually got me but some of them were cheap which was expected. The budget for this film is around $36 million and it looks like a big budget film which was pretty surprising. This film really pulled the movie magic which is a major plus. What I liked about the production of this film is that it was shot on location and used as many practical effects as possible. The cinematography is good but I liked how they try to cut less in the film and tried to use a lot of one-take shots. That's creative and I'm happy they went through that route of editing. The production is pretty solid overall and they really used a lot of creative production techniques to make this film look expensive. The story is also solid and I liked how half of the film is in the day and in night. The night sequences were more tense and more fun. Pretty dark but I felt like it's the right choice so they can hide some of the visible CGI on the lion. Back to the narrative story, I thought it was basic but the performances really helped this film. Idris Elba is still great in every film including this one. He stole every scene and he was the best part. The daughters were decent and not that annoying but sometimes, they are. I was so happy to see Sharlto Copley back again on the big screen and he's such an underrated actor. He's getting old but he was pretty cool in this film and his chemistry with Elba works well. The action scenes were entertaining and well directed. The opening scene is a mix for me which I will get into later. But the final fight scene was legit fucking good. A lot of tension and it really got me on the edge of my seat. The pacing of this film is 50/50 but it was short. Plus, the family scenes were pretty good which is important to the story. However, this film falls flat in some sections. The story was simple but I felt like the story could've used more work on some sections like the family relationship and the mother relationship. The dream sequence is pretty weird and I felt like it had no purpose in the film. I wish there was an explanation but there wasn't. The daughters were kind of annoying, but at least they helped. There were some dumb decisions in the film which was expected to make the story tenser which is great but let's be smart for one second. The opening scene which was cool had some problems not on the story, but on the technical level. It may be my local theater but it looked like it had a 720p resolution with a lot of visible film grain. It could be my shitty eyes but I don't believe it. The poacher's side plot was wasted. They only showed up in the beginning and they showed up in the middle but they got killed right away which was pretty stupid. Plus, I don't know what happened to the main leader. I was interested when they mention an important detail about Sharlto Copley's character in relation to the poachers but never mentioned it again. I was interested in that single sentence but disappointed when it wasn't mentioned ever again. Some cliché moments and story problems but it didn't ruin the fun. This film was meant to be just a fun August movie and it was. Even with the flaws, it didn't ruin the fun of watching a Lion beating the shit out of Idris Elba. This was basically The Lion King and Life of Pi but mashed together as an action/horror film. This film was fun and it's a good film if you want to watch something quick. Would I see it again, maybe not but who knows. Just enjoy the film and try to pray for the characters to live. If you reach that, you are in for a good time. Plus, this is the final action summer film before we head onto the film festival season. Can't wait! Now Playing Only in Theaters. Vizeit Score: "B-" (Share this review with your film friends and on social media! Thank you for your continue support.) Copyright © 2022. Vizeit Studios. All Rights Reserved. Review Written By: Everardo Garcia Jr.
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