The Beast isn’t just a limousine. It’s a weapon. And in Renny Harlin’s latest, it’s also the only thing standing between Samuel L. Jackson’s President and a full-scale coup. The film opens with a motorcade under fire — militia forces swarm the road, explosions rip through the night, and Jackson, strapped into the backseat of ‘The Beast,’ is suddenly behind the wheel. No more hiding. No more aides. Just him, the machine, and a mission to survive. That’s the premise. The rest? Divisive. Very much so. 

Rotten Tomatoes has The Beast at 53% critics’ score after 17 reviews. Audience score: 56%. Not a disaster. Not a triumph. A split. Some call it an exercise in absurdity, Screen Rant gave it four out of ten, citing action that’s hard to follow and a story that leans too heavily on spectacle. Others see Jackson’s performance as the anchor. He’s been doing this kind of role for decades, but here, he’s not just playing a leader. He’s becoming one, even if the script doesn’t always let him. 

Joel Kinnaman, who plays the injured Secret Service agent Taft, returns to the screen with a familiar intensity. This marks their second reunion since RoboCop (2014), where Kinnaman was the cyborg cop and Jackson the media host. Now, Kinnaman’s in the background, wounded, sidelined. But still vital. His presence grounds the chaos, even as the film careens toward its climax. 

Harlin’s return to high-octane thriller territory feels deliberate. After Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, Deep Blue Sea, the man knows how to build tension in confined spaces. Here, the limo becomes a fortress, a cockpit, a war machine. But does the film deliver? Early signs suggest it’s more about momentum than meaning. The action is loud, the stakes are real, but the logic? Often stretched. 

With only 17 critic reviews and 50+ audience ratings counted, the numbers could shift. But the early buzz is clear: The Beast is polarizing. Not because it’s bad. Because it’s trying too hard to be everything at once. A political thriller, a survival saga, a vehicle for Jackson’s gravitas, and a showcase for over-the-top stunts. 

And yet, it’s already generating conversation. Not just about whether it works, but why it feels like it should. In a year where audiences are hungry for bold, unapologetic cinema, The Beast might not be the masterpiece many hoped for, but it’s certainly not invisible. 

Next week, more reviews will drop. The weekend box office will tell us what people actually paid to see it. For now, the limo keeps moving. The question isn’t whether it’ll make it through. It’s whether anyone wants to ride it.