Beast review – down-and-out MMA fighter film is predictable but still lands punches

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Directed by Tyler Atkins and co-written by Russell Crowe, this Australian feature follows a familiar playbook – but you’ll find yourself surprisingly invested Ah, yes: the promising fighter who could’ve been a contender, could’ve been a champion. But then life intervened: bad decisions were made, promises broken, the wrong paths taken. But what if the past came knocking on his door? What if our long-in-the-tooth hero could have another crack, set things right, get in the ring one more time? To say that Tyler Atkins’ Australian martial arts drama Beast plucks moves from a well-worn playbook is putting it lightly. This is one of those genre films in which nothing surprises in broad terms; it’s the small pivots and deviations that matter. Given the ring of familiarity surrounding everything, I was surprised to find myself as invested in the film as I was, particularly because so many chest-thumping sports movies are already out there, many of which I find about as intellectually engaging ...
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After 10 years, I'm stepping down as the Observer's film critic. Here are my top films from the decade | Mark Kermode

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As I leave the post, I look back on how cinema has changed since 2013 and, below, pick a favourite movie from each year of my tenure – as well as a turkey

This week, I filed my final column as chief film critic for the Observer. I’m stepping down after exactly 10 years in the role, making way for the brilliant Wendy Ide to take over the reins and put her own inimitable stamp on the paper. A longstanding colleague and friend, Wendy is an exceptional critic and I look forward to reading her insightful and elegant reviews in these pages for years to come. In the meantime, looking back at my own experiences over the past decade, I’m struck by how much the moviegoing landscape has changed.

When I took over from the great Philip French in September 2013, Kathryn Bigelow was still the only woman to have won the Oscar for best director, having made history when she triumphed with her tense war drama The Hurt Locker in 2010. The Academy Awards have, of course, always been inherently ridiculous (remember: Citizen Kane didn’t win best picture, but Driving Miss Daisy did). For better or worse, however, this very American shindig tells us something about the way the mainstream film industry views itself. And since the first Oscars ceremony back in 1929, the Academy has overwhelmingly celebrated and prioritised white male film-makers. Yet in the past 10 years, things have at least begun to shift in encouraging ways.

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