‘The Beast’ Review: Samuel L. Jackson and Joel Kinnaman in a Renny Harlin Joint That’s a Deadly Combo of Silly and Tedious

A U.S. president and a severely wounded Secret Service agent battle it out with hordes of terrorists in this action-thriller. The latest action flick from veteran director Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger) demonstrates its macho bona fides at the very beginning, when an onscreen crawl informs us that U.S. government security forces are a “dynamic, imperishable illustration of American might.” It then goes on to add, “And it’s all just been fucking destroyed.” Cut to an intense firefight, since this is the sort of B-movie that doesn’t believe in wasting time with such niceties as plot development or character definition. Instead, we watch as the titular vehicle — you know, the one in which the president rides — is speeding down a road while Joel Kinnaman, playing a Secret Service agent, is engaged in intense combat with a hooded terrorist in the back seat.

As the car drives on while dodging a series of explosions, a seemingly endless number of terrorists armed with automatic weapons shoot at it to no avail. And did I mention that the armored car is being driven by the president, played by Samuel L. Jackson? And that nearly the entirety of the film takes place within the vehicle? That’s the high concept of the rudimentary screenplay by Umair Aleem, who seems to have spent