A Fera

All the comments here about the leads poor fighting skills - in the real world people don't fight like Jason Bourne and John Wick, fighting is thuggish and brutal, with little finesse and the character is called the Beast for Pete's sake. But when you've been raised on a diet of sterile Hollywood pap of the past few decades then it's understandable that you think fighting should be stylised, clinical and frankly boring. This film was by no means perfect, but it is a solid 6.

That Italian flick tries something already used and overused by the US film industry: a former Special Forces member suffering of post traumatic disorder and whose daughter was abducted. I expected something new from this European film, especially released on Netflix, I expected something daring, more brutal, gritty, why not nasty, disgusting, disturbing. But directing and acting are more than OK though.

"The Beast" as the title translates, doesn't really ring true.

Akin to films like "Taken" (which is also implausible) the primary issue with this film is one of realism. The key protagonist is apparently a highly skilled, special forces operative. Yet his situational awareness is poor, as is his judgement. Of course, we are told he has PTSD. Even so, that level of experience becomes instinctive, so this is a thin excuse.

He blunders into multiple hostile situations. His combat skills look more like those of a simplistic street fighter. They lack polish and precision. No one with that kind of background would go in unarmed, either. A hammer, a box cutter, kitchen knife, or even a crow bar, can make a huge difference.

Just as improbable, his adversaries leave him for dead at one point, rather than finishing him off. All this after he proves he is at the least a tangible, if disorganised, threat.

Acting by contrast, is excellent. The main character is believable but he's let down by a script that fails to seriously ask how a soldier with this degree of training and experience, would really perform in this kind of scenario.

The outcome is a film that's more or less watchable but for anyone with any real training, it offer's up far too many "yeah right' moments to be convincing.

5/10 from me.

This movie is watchable, but not as good as I had hoped. Guy just gets his ass kicked most of the time. Should have gave the script to Scott Adkins.

The movie has a good beginning and the Beast character is perfect. But then the plot becomes really slow, the action is slow, the hero looses his strength and falls in serious danger. It is not clear the intention of the movie: an action movie, a family/love movie, both of the them ? Well in my opinion none of them had success. Finally with its rhytms movie is too long (I risked to fall asleep). But Ludovico Di Martino has really good possibilities (scenes, lights, actors), so c'mon let show them.