BY: GURU JAY
Beasts of No Nation Movie Review: SPOILER ALERT
After NRC government soldiers invaded his family’s village and shot and killed his father, grandfather, and older brother in cold blood, a young West African boy named Agu (Abraham Attah) amazingly escapes execution by running into the jungle. Now, he’s a refugee but not for long. NDF rebellion soldiers capture Agu and demand that he explain his ideology to their commandant played by Idris Elba. Elba’s character uses Agu’s story as a catalyst for recruitment and training purposes.
Unfortunately, Agu’s time is up and his options are few. He’s left to choose between the lesser of two evils. Of course, he joins the NDF because otherwise he’s dead.
It won’t be long before Agu slaughters a man in cold blood himself. The commandant orders the child soldier to slash “his enemy” with a machete. The victim pleads, “I’m only an engineering student!” Later on, the boy with a guilty conscience kills several innocent people with a rifle while under even stricter orders.
Beasts of No Nation lives up to its name. It is a brutal tale of a never-ending war.
The commandant motivates his army with captivating stories centered on African culture. But every plot no matter how thick climaxes.
Still, the supreme commander holds the keys to power. He promises the commandant a promotion to General. Or does he?
It turns out the supreme commander intends on demoting the commandant. He emphasizes a soldier has three duties. 1. Obedience 2. Obedience 3. Obedience
That’s when the commandant goes ballistic and takes his troops another course. Inevitably, all of the soldiers surrender except for their commandant. Agu is safe, but forever changed by those “very dangerous times.”
I highly recommend Beasts of No Nation but I warn you of its graphic nature. It is controversial for a reason. Idris Elba literally immerses himself into the bloodstained script.
I am Guru Jay launching into orbit in 5-4-3-2-1!