Beast of War
review by Bobby Blakey
Anytime you throw killer sharks into the mix there is potential for a bloody good time. The latest looking to bring the fun of a shark attack is the Australian film Beast of War, The film stars Mark Coles Smith, Joel Nankervis, Maximillian Johnson, Lee Tiger Halley, Sam Parsonson, Tristan McKinnon, and Sam Delich from Sting director Kiah Roache-Turner. Could this film bring the shark carnage fans want or will it sink before it’s allowed to swim?
Beast of War follows a young troop of Australian soldiers must find a way to survive the harsh seas on a quickly shrinking life raft when their boat is sunk while crossing the Timor Sea during World War II. Hundreds of miles from anywhere, they must confront interpersonal conflicts, enemy attacks, and the advances of one very large, very hungry great white shark.
Despite the shark front and center in the promotions it is just a small part of the film. I was hoping for more shark carnage and while there are some it is more about the beast within than anything else. The film sets things up with training and introducing the young soldiers before thrusting them into war and leaving them stranded on the sea. The story is based loosely on true events which make it more compelling although it never gets to the level of success it could have.
Some of this is the missed focus on the shark as opposed to just the burdens of war. I would have preferred being surprised by the shark attacks as it would have added to the intensity as opposed to feeling like there wasn’t enough here. Getting past that aspect the film isn’t all that bad and takes you on a journey of
survival against the elements, the mind and people. There are numerous frustrating decisions made due to stupid people that make you wonder why they wouldn’t just toss them overboard to save the group.
They do a decent enough job taking this small location and making it feel massive like the sea itself. Using the various debris from the wreckage they created almost a maze of sorts to allow the soldiers to bounce around and get creative in their fight for survival. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before but works to entertain. The practical effects made it better for me, especially with the shark looking reminiscent of JAWS albeit on a much smaller level.
It had potential and is fine but never got out of its own way to really deliver and struggled making many of the soldiers themselves all that likeable. Decide for yourself and check out Beast of War available now on Blu-ray from Well Go USA.