{"id":596587,"date":"2026-04-09T22:25:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/596587\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T22:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:25:08","slug":"beast-review-familiar-mma-story-solid-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/596587\/","title":{"rendered":"Beast review: Familiar MMA story, solid action"},"content":{"rendered":"

Liongate\u2019s new mixed martial arts (MMA) movie, Beast<\/a>, directed by Tyler Atkins, starring Daniel MacPherson as retired fighter Patton James and Russell Crowe as disgruntled coach Sammy, has landed in theaters and will be released tomorrow, April 10, 2026.<\/p>\n

The movie is about a once-feared MMA champion (MacPherson) who is pulled back in for the fight of his life when his younger brother is put in danger. Reuniting with the trainer (Crowe) who once made him a legend, he commits to one final showdown against the reigning title-holder, with whom he has a brutal history.<\/p>\n

The bar for MMA movies is \u2014 let\u2019s be honest \u2014 incredibly low. Outside of Warrior, Here Comes The Boom, and Never Back Down<\/a>, they are all pretty bad. I mean, last year\u2019s Smashing Machine<\/a> starring The Rock couldn\u2019t do anything special.<\/p>\n

So when something like Beast comes along, you\u2019re not exactly expecting Rocky levels of storytelling or Warrior emotional depth. And while Beast doesn\u2019t completely fall flat on its face, it also doesn\u2019t exactly break new ground either.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve seen this story before. A lot.<\/p>\n

The rise, the fall, the redemption arc \u2014 it\u2019s all here, packaged neatly inside the ONE Championship<\/a> universe, which admittedly gives the film a unique coat of paint compared to other MMA-based movies.<\/p>\n

At the center of it all is Patton James, played by MacPherson, who ends up being the film\u2019s biggest strength. He\u2019s easy to root for, carries the emotional weight well, and gives the movie just enough heart to keep you invested even when the plot starts feeling overly familiar.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s Crowe \u2014 who, unsurprisingly, is brilliant like always. Whether he\u2019s chewing scenery or delivering quieter moments, Crowe elevates every scene he\u2019s in. On the flip side, Xavier Grau, played by Bren Foster, makes for a solid antagonist. He\u2019s the kind of bad guy you genuinely want to see get his ass kicked, which is exactly what you want in a fight movie.<\/p>\n

Speaking of fights \u2014 they look good. Really good.<\/p>\n

The choreography is slick, the camera work is clean, and the action pops visually. But there\u2019s a catch: it all feels very\u2026 choreographed. There\u2019s a lack of grit and unpredictability that MMA fans are used to, which might take you out of the moment if you\u2019re looking for realism.<\/p>\n

The movie drags in spots and could easily have 20 minutes shaved off without losing anything important. Some scenes overstay their welcome, slowing the pacing just enough to be noticeable.<\/p>\n

Still, there\u2019s something oddly enjoyable about Beast. Maybe it\u2019s the underdog story, maybe it\u2019s the polished fight scenes, or maybe it\u2019s just seeing a major film lean into the ONE Championship world \u2014 something we don\u2019t get very often.<\/p>\n

Hardcore MMA fans might roll their eyes at the cliches and lack of authenticity. But casual movie goers? They\u2019ll probably eat this up. It\u2019s a feel-good sports movie with the usual ups and downs, packaged in a way that\u2019s easy to digest.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not groundbreaking. It\u2019s not terrible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liongate\u2019s new mixed martial arts (MMA) movie, Beast, directed by Tyler Atkins, starring Daniel MacPherson as retired fighter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":596588,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,40762,785,2843,85],"class_list":["post-596587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-latest-ufc-mma-news","tag-mma","tag-one-championship","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}