Time: 108 Minutes
Cast:
Ben Affleck as Mark Kimball
Kerry Washington as Abigail Kimball
Gillian Anderson as Dayle Burton
Adriana Paz as Cecilia Trujillo
Luis Gerardo Méndez as Ramon Valle
Steven Yeun as Sam Allison
Director: Ben Affleck

I was curious about Animals, it’s the latest movie from Ben Affleck which has a good cast, and looked like it could be a solid kidnapping thriller. It was considerably worse than I was expecting it to be, but I still enjoyed it.

Leading up to my viewing of Animals, I had heard a lot of comparisons to Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low. I didn’t think much of it, then I watched the movie and found the comparisons to be surprisingly apt. It’s to the point that it might as well be yet another remake, even as Spike Lee already had his official remake with Highest 2 Lowest last year. It’s just that instead of it being about the head of a shoe company or a notable music mogul, the protagonist is a politician running for mayor. If we are going to include Animals within this group of movies, it’s easily the worst and least interesting of the 3. The plot and writing are quite simplistic and predictable. I thought that there would be more layers uncovered over the course of the movie, but it’s quite thin and not that complex.  Considering its going for the politician angle, you’d think there would be dirty secrets that Affleck would be struggling with, but you don’t really get any of that. There is something of a marriage drama which isn’t particularly compelling. It seems to want to say things on topics like immigration and class struggles, but by the end it’s forgotten in favour of having a typical thriller climax. As a kidnapping thriller, it’s fine, mildly entertaining though the tension isn’t felt in anything beyond the cast (mainly Affleck and Washington) yelling a lot.

Animals benefits from a good cast who deliver decent work on the whole. Ben Affleck works quite well in the lead role. It was originally to star Matt Damon instead, which felt strange to me because the role seemed almost written for Affleck. Kerry Washington is good too, she and Affleck have a good dynamic despite their characters feeling very underwritten. Gillian Anderson and Steven Yeun are good too, especially Anderson as a mysterious person that Affleck seeks help from during this kidnapping situation.

Ben Affleck’s direction is fine on the whole, but it does feel like a notable step down from his work on his previous feature films. From the cinematography to the editing and beyond, it feels like another straight to Netflix movie that could’ve been made by any competent director. The only notable stylish aspect is the use of drones, which really don’t add anything to the movie. The third act has some very janky moments, with one particularly laughable moment with awful looking CGI. Also, I do have to mention that Affleck admitted that he did use AI for the movie. I’m not sure where, but I think it’s worth saying at least.

Animals is very familiar and derivative and is easily Ben Affleck’s worst film as a director, but it is nonetheless an entertaining enough kidnapping thriller with a good cast