Review of The Boy and the Beast (2015) by Jonlloyd A — 17 Jun 2018

To get it out of the way, it's not as good as the director's other films. It doesn't have the same emotional resonance, lacking the third act punch his previous films had. I'm all for movies that just throw you into a weird world, but they seemed to be making up some of the rules as they went along here making the climactic scene feel lacking and the character reveal twist I had predicted from the very beginning.

All that being said...I really liked this movie. Is it flawed? Sure, but when your previous films have all been masterpieces it's fine to do something a little more weird and fun, and this movie is weird and fun. It still has some potent messages about being torn-between two worlds, and while the stuff about the beast within all humans gets a little heavy-handed at the end it's still worth talking about, but at its core it's a fantasy adventure about a boy who grows up in this strange world. The core of the story really is the relationship between the titular boy and beast, and it's charming as hell to watch their relationship develop. You totally buy that these two misfits would grow close to each other even though they're both too proud to admit how much they mean to each other. I also liked the two other beast friends, if only because the trio of them reminded me a lot of my trio of friends in high school which made their dynamic a lot of fun to watch. Overall, it's an enjoyable adventure with enough heart to give it some lasting impact.