Got home and I was intending to watch Furious (2026) but to pre heat things up decided to get Beast (2026) out of my bucket list first, when it came out had a lot of buzz around it considering its a low budget movie and with Russell Crowe, still consider a great actor so ofcourse it was going to have an audience around it. The first ten minutes trick you into thinking you are about to watch a masterpiece, because the energy is just ufff sky rocket high. There is this scene backstage at a ONE Championship event, where Russell Crowe plays Sammy, hyping up Patton James, played by Daniel MacPherson, chanting an intense mantra about breathing to think and thinking to win, and you really believe this is going to be a non stop action movie, not talking about John Wick but a very hyped up Rocky MMA version. Then the movie pulls a bait and switch, cutting to years later, where Patton is working on a depressing fishing boat, its like they decided to give you glimpse of his good old times before showing the now days. He already stood up for his simpleminded friend Neal over a busted trap and a docked paycheck, but what actually costs him the job is a blowup with the skipper, who crosses the line insulting his kid and it escalates so fast the guy pulls a flare gun on him right there on the dock. That shift from a hyped arena to a guy going pay check after pay check, suffering life each day, totally drains all the energy right out. Crowe barely does anything, spending almost the entire movie sitting down using two canes, while MacPherson gives it everything he has surrounded by side characters who do not bring anything to the story. The movie has this cool underground MMA vibe but bogs itself down with domestic drama that honestly doestn add to the emotion of a fighter, some my argue it gives it purpose but its boring AF when they try to get into that aspect of the training, suffering and motives behind the fighting.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7708226/
- Platform: PRIME VIDEO
The one thing keeping this movie up float is the villain Xavier Grau, played by real life martial artist Bren Foster, who completely owns every scene he shows up his face, they guy is not easy to like and thats good because movies are aboout generating some sort of feeling, at least hating a guy is good, when its for the right reasons. Xavier is the reigning ONE Championship titleholder and they give him a slimy manager played by Luke Hemsworth, who brings a perfect cheesy energy to the business side of fighting. There is one crazy scene at a shipping yard, an unsanctioned fight with wooden slats on the floor costing ten thousand dollars a ticket, go figure this is where the movies starts to be a bit irrational but what ever lets say it cost that much, Xavier has this show off fight, he throws incredible kicks while his opponent actually slams him through a table like a WWE match. Foster makes the striking look authentic that you believe this are real MMA fighters, that I have to give it to the movie and casting someone who actually knows how to fight adds a realism you do not get from regular actors or doubles for stunts. I would have preffer more fluent fight scenes rather than the editing style they choose for the movie where they show one punch and then an instant cut away, so you never actually get to sit with the full choreography. Xavier comes off so arrogant and terrifying that he ends up being the only guy you actually want more out of his character and I just wish the camera would back off and let these two go at it without all the cutting killing the flow.
Beast clearly wants to be some mix of Warrior and Rocky, with Patton trying to prove he can still fight even though he is older and way past the point where most people would tell him to walk away. The problem is the movie never really gets deep into that story. A lot of it feels more like a two hour commercial for ONE Championship, with the logo everywhere and the circular cage constantly mentioned. I have seen plenty of movies packed with obvious branding that still manage to tell a good story, but here the fighting world just feels empty. Patton ends up training with Sammy's daughter Rose after Sammy refuses to help him, and we are supposed to believe Rose is this great coach, but the movie barely does anything with her. She mostly stands around watching Patton train instead of actually feeling like the person leading him into a title fight. There is even this ridiculous sparring scene where Patton destroys three guys back to back while Rose watches and tells her dad that he is basically losing his mind in there. The movie keeps reminding us that Patton is an aging fighter with a gray beard who is about to face a much more dangerous opponent, and that should have been enough to build some real tension. Instead we mostly get training montages, sweat and Patton looking angry. If you go with the flow of the movie at times you will be basically in automatic mode because I latter realize there is very little about how he plans to actually win this fight or change the way he fights because of his age, the plan is full send it, funny enough this is a back to back sports related movie without intention after Happy Gilmore 2. Same as in Happy Gilmore 2 there are cameos here that feel forced, like they just need to happen because in this case they are directly related to MMA like with Demetrious Johnson appearing for a quick hug during the walkout and then disappearing. he movie has all the pieces for a decent comeback story, but it never does enough with any of them.
Now for one of the worst parts of the movie and that is Patton's brother Malon, walking around with pink hair and acting like he is some kind of superstar fighter. During his fight with Xavier Grau, Malon is actually having some momentum and look like the one with the upper hand and even sends him through a table, but things go bad when the referee is already waving Xavier off and he still lands another illegal shot. Malon ends up in a coma with a clot on his brain, but the guy already had a mountain of problems before any of this happened. He owes fifty thousand dollars to a shady lender named Barry Dunn and apparently borrowed all that money to keep his fighting career and lifestyle going, so there is a huge story of bad decisions going on. You would think almost dying would be enough for Malon to finally slow down, but nope, once he is back he goes right into more bad decisions and signs up for an unsanctioned fight with Xavier. That whole thing ends at a shipping yard with Malon hitting his head on some equipment and dying, that feels like the movie just needed another tragedy to push Patton over the edge. After losing his brother, Patton completely falls apart, drinking alone in his garage while still hiding his training from his wife Luciana. She is angry at him for lying and it is only later, after Malon's death and seeing how badly Patton is dealing with it, that she finally tells him to go fight if that is what he really needs. There is also this whole side story about Patton taking care of Malon's fifty thousand dollar debt with Barry, I would say that at least the movie remembers to finish that part and confirms they are square, but it still feels like another strange thread that takes you offroad from what you probably really sign up and thats an MMA fighter so why they always have to add the family death, drinking problems, wife leaving and gambling problems in the mix? its just so cliche and convenient at the same time, specially in a movie already packed with too much drama. The Malon story should have been the emotional moment for the story but instead it just keeps piling bad decision after bad decision until the guy is dead and Patton has one more reason to look miserable before the title fight.
When we finally get to the big title fight, Beast does give us some decent action, but you really have to turn your brain off and just go with it. I am completely fine with this kind of movie, but if you are asking me to leave my brain at the door, then fill that space with pure dopamine and stop drowning everything in unnecessary suffering and family drama. This final fight is supposed to be Patton's big comeback, the moment where all the pain, drinking and years away from the sport finally mean something. Instead, the movie spends most of the fight beating the hell out of him until it suddenly decides it is time for him to go, go means go. Xavier destroys him for two rounds and even puts him completely to sleep with a rear naked choke right before the bell, in a very hilarious way Herb Dean just watches the whole thing happen like there is nothing important going on, and the bell rings. Then Xavier pokes him in the eye in the third round, leaving Patton barely able to see, but of course this is also when our forty something year old fighter who has been out of the game for more than a decade suddenly finds another gear. Patton turns things around and wins by technical knockout with only seconds left in the round, yes it looks cool and its what everyone is expecting, the strikes feel heavy and the crowd roaring, but emotionally I never felt the victory was completely earned. Its like the movie basically force Patton to show he still has something left, winning for his family and probably finding some peace after losing Malon, but the script never connects those ideas well enough. He just survives an insane amount of punishment and wins because the movie needs him to win. The announcer screams that Patton is now three million dollars richer, Sammy finally calls him a world champion and Patton phones Luciana to tell her he loves her, all this like it was nothing special and just going through checkbox on a list. I am giving Beast a solid 7/10, it should probably be a 6 but Im a bit bias here because I like MMA and had some cool fight moments, the actual fighting looks good and the strike feel nasty, Patton did get his ass kicked, but the story is a mess. Hardcore MMA fans might get something out of seeing the ONE Championship cage and all the familiar faces, but everyone else is getting a pretty average comeback movie mix in between too much drama, so if you ask me just skip it.
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Rating: 70/100
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