Eavesdropping At The Movies

The absence of presence that is Idris Elba, who we'd like to like one day, stars in Beast, a Jurassic Park knock-off that pitches him against both his distant daughter and an excessively affectionate lion. It's a film that Mike enjoyed unironically but can't claim to find much quality in; José, showing off, provides a coherent response, seeing the film's weaknesses and having no fun. It's a mechanical film in more ways than one. The character relationships crash inelegantly into place, the action hasn't met an idea from a better film that it didn't try to copy - and the seats share the load, tilting and rumbling along with the images. For reasons beyond our understanding, our local Cineworld offered Beast only in 4DX, the theme park-style augmented exhibition format that purports to enhance the cinematic experience through practical effects such as moving seats, wind, and strobe lighting. It's a technology that José despises to its core, arguing that it betrays a lack of trust in the film's own ability to ex