Beasts of No Nation : Good, but a bit disappointing.

I just finished the film and was a bit let down. The plot didn't really go anywhere. They had so many opportunities to go make the ending more impactful. Idris Elba slaughtering his "battalion" would have been intense. Agu killing Elba would have been satisfying. I think an ending foreshadowing Agu becoming a commander like Elba would have worked. Storming the city with his mom and finding out they killed her would have made you feel bad him.

It just needed more plot development.

I think the ending of the movie was more impactful than any of those choices. Your endings have been done before.

I agree. What would killing Elba have done? Add shock value to the movie? The movie didn't need any more killing. It was a fantastic representation of child soldiers in that part of the world. I'm glad they ended it like they did.

Yeah I'm glad they didn't try to add some crazy melodrama in at the end.

This movie has been done before and much better than this. I have seen two African movies about similar bands of child soldiers inside a guerrilla rebel army and have to say they were both way better than this movie. But this movie is a western movie. Not surprising that the Africans do a far better job of telling their own story.

Name them.

Unfortunately I cannot remember the names of both movies and they were not English language movies which makes them difficult to search. However I do remember the name of one of them which was "Johnny Mad Dog" - which is the most relevant of the two as this movie basically seemed like a poor copy of that movie.

Inadmissible.

You can claim that for one movie but I named "Johnny Mad Dog" - that cannot be classed as inadmissible. It is an earlier and far superior movie.

Good point. The trailer looks good.

i agree, the film led to nowhere. i wanted to switch it off an hour in but thought id give it a chance in the hopes of some development but nope. they shouldve trimmed it down to 1h 30m, 2 hours of this was painful..

So you basically you wanted an atypical ending? How many films have you seen where justice is served with the utmost precision? This ending is much more than than. Though Agu is a child he fears what others would think of him and simply wants to be happy.

Yeah no disrespect the endings you proposed are pretty bad and cliche lol

None taken. Everything has been done before. It's not like this film is completely original. It's a "moment in time" piece where things don't get better and people need to go on living with the consequences of their situation. The unexplored plot elements make sense because it is from the perspective of Agu. This film isn't an Art Film classic by any means.

Of course my proposed endings have been done and are cliche. It's the execution that matters. This film had top notch acting and cinematography. I think they could have pulled off something special with some better writing.

Haha, look at all of these sheep, wannabe film critics.

I love how the internet age has brought on a bunch of followers that think they need to say what they think the most prestigious film makers would say in terms of ideas from other viewers.

All of the sudden, anything that has been done before is a "copout" or "cliche."

Abu killing the Commander would have been somewhat therauputic for him and the group. Commander brainwashed those kids and ruined their already tattered lives But wait a minute That's been done before. Forget that, lets just have Abu run into the ocean at the end.

He ran to the ocean as making a choice to be a child over a child soldier. He stated earlier on in the film that he thought he could never be a kid again. But he was able to make that hop into the sea.

Stop looking for some violent Scarface ending to every film and enjoy the art. Not every movie needs to end with a giant shoot out or bloodbath.

It being done before is pretty much the definition of cliche.

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It being done before is pretty much the definition of cliche.

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No, it isn't. If it were, literally everything would be a cliche.

And everything pretty much is.

Abu killing the Commander would have been somewhat therauputic for him and the group.

No doubt. Whenever I kill someone I feel great. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that warm stream of therapeutic euphoria after committing a murder. Maybe some day you and me can swap stories.

I don't know about you, but if I had already killed many innocent people and had the opportunity to kill a man who raped me as a child, I would do it.

Abu is already going to be messed up from the other killings. Why not kill someone who deserves to die.

That was cute how you made me look stupid though.

You're really happy with your 'comeback', aren't you?

You made yourself look stupid.
And no one cares what you would have done in this situation, this film is not about you lol.
If you think him not killing the commander was a flaw, you need to sort your logic out.

That's a ridiculous hypothetical. You have no idea what you would do if you had "killed many innocent people"

sean-goddard is spot on, I can imagine these people with their glasses sitting on the tip of their nose, puffing on a pipe while wearing a silk bathrobe saying to themselves "now let me bless the internet with my unbeatable film critic skills" "Right after mommy cooks me dinner, MOM! MEATLOAF!!!"

So I'm over stepping for telling him I don't like his endings, but he's well within his rights to REWRITE THE ENDING to someone else's movie??

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Haha, look at all of these sheep, wannabe film critics.

I love how the internet age has brought on a bunch of followers that think they need to say what they think the most prestigious film makers would say in terms of ideas from other viewers.

All of the sudden, anything that has been done before is a "copout" or "cliche."

Abu killing the Commander would have been somewhat therauputic for him and the group. Commander brainwashed those kids and ruined their already tattered lives But wait a minute That's been done before. Forget that, lets just have Abu run into the ocean at the end.

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Isn`t it ironic how you`re accusing people of doing the exact same thign you`re doing even harder? Aren`t you a "wannabe critic" by saying killing the commander would have been "therapeutic" and bashing the ending with "lets just have Abu run into the ocean"? You`re critiquing the movie and saying what OP proposed would be better. You sound so snob saying it, too. Sheep? Who the frack says sheep?

People here reject the OPs alternate endings because it`s exactly what you`d expect from this kind of movie. It would be giving closure to the conflict, but them trying to recover themselves, the other kids running towards the war againa, that`s how actual child soldiers end. Did you even get the whole running into the ocean thing? You did understand it was not just him going for a swim, did you?

I`m reading everything in an african accent now. You?

lmfao came here to say this

No offense but you may have to dig into historical accounts in Congo, Sierra Leone, FMLN, etc endings.

I think I expected something like what you've suggested to happen, I didn't expect them being let go and leaving; because of that I like what they did. And I think what they did was right for the story. I think it gives the story a different pace and makes it feel more realistic; which is the tone this film is trying to keep. Also, these people have always been fighting for nothing, they are tools of others who are discarded when it benefits they're leader politically. They are soldiers whose ideals aren't share by anyone else, not even their superiors. They've broken themselves and others because they believed they fought for something, and it ended being for noting. Even the 2nd I-C said that to agu. They lost more than just bullets, they fought for nothing; and it's hard to maintain men or resolve when that happens. The Commandant knew that, he they lost, but didn't want to let it go; because he believed there was no future for them after what they've done and been through.

I think some times "untidy" endings are appropriate, this being one. You are left feeling a mixture of hopelessness and hope which I think is right and probably closest to the truth out there. Through various efforts, charities etc I think there are places like that at the end with lots of kids that have not found parents and have not been able to reintegrate.

I agree that sometimes that is the appropriate ending. This film just didn't benefit from the "untidy" ending. At least in my opinion. It would appear that I am in the minority.

This film was adapted from the true account of the main character. The events in the movie actually happened.

Touch darkness and darkness touches you back.

I don't agree with the OP's ideas (even though the movie strays from the book), but this is not adapted from a true account. http://www.bustle.com/articles/117022-is-beasts-of-no-nation-based-on-a-true-story-its-inspired-by-an-incredible-nigerian

Personally, I liked the ending. Watching a child who was forced to age Attempt to put it all behind him and return to being a kid again? I thought that was powerful. Now, of course nothing will ever be the same for him, and he knows. However, he can try..

I liked that they left the Commandant alive. Death is easy, but now, he has nobody to control, no food, no water.

Um.possible spoilers.I guess (some of you are super sensitive)

The film goes (nearly) full circle. It starts with him playing with friends and excitedly using his imagination. It ends with him contemplating what he has done; what kind of person he is, and then he seems to decide to try to be a kid again.


No signature lines were harmed in the making of this signature line.

I don't really agree it needed any more plot, as this was more about the character development anyway.

However I do agree with you that the ending was somewhat let impactful than the excellent first half led me to expect. I would't call the film disappointing at all, but it does knock it down from what could have been a masterpiece in my book.

Alright, that is your opinion. But you should not come out here and say it was disappointig just because you wanted the story to be different. That is not how you analyse a film.

How exactly is being dissatisfied with the plot and character arcs not a proper way to analyze a film? I review based on acting, writing, direction, set design, cinematography, and everything that everyone else looks at. I also judge all art by what it makes you feel. Please elaborate on the problem with my approach. Disagreeing with me is fine, obviously.

the ending as it was, was perfect; it was realistic. Why would a child, who has been mentally manipulated to be totally dependent upon one person for so long, during a very stressful time(being a soldier/sloppily trained "rebel(more like a gang member)") suddenly just go around and kill that person. Even tho there was a lot of discontent brewing in the group, it would still probably take a lot of deconditioning to break such a young mind free of the commandant's manipulation. i found it really believable that the kid did not shoot him.

Also, all of these plot suggestions you put up are WAY too hollywood; they would all be "lets end it with a twist, just for the sake of crapping up our great movie w/ a shocking and dramatic twist" instead of simply letting the more realistic, and subtle drama, that carried the movie forward up until that point, take its natural course w/ wrapping up the plot.

Firey/twist endings don't work w/ real life plots like this. This movie was not a 90s era action flick, where people just solve a plot crisis by blowing *beep* up/massacreing people in their "in crowd" who suddenly mutiny against them.

I totally agree. All these keyboard warriors always seem to think everyone should just be shot. Its not so simple and I agree I think its more realistic that he wouldn't take the opportunity on someone who has impacted his life like that(good and bad). Gun to his head sure but he could just walk away and did.

The whole making him become the commandant only to kill his own mother lol So creative, no one would have thought of that "twist" and even if it had never been done before would have been worse than this excellent portrayal.

Have to disagree with you there, respectfully. All those endings would have been a traditional plot/ character arc in the normal Hollywood sense. The way it just petered out was to my mind a much more impactful and accurate representation of the course of these types of interminable civil conflicts; these wars that inevitably end up with a negotiated settlement that leaves things pretty much exactly as they were before children started slaughtering each other by the thousand.

I agree a little bit. I was wondering what was going to happen but didn't want to overthink it and just wanted to see where it was going to go. Was surprised and happy that he ended up in an orphanage

Don't ever try to be a writer, HisBoyElroy, because your ideas are *beep* terrible.

Haha. I'll never understand people like you. The goal of these forums is to discuss films and share ideas. Insulting people that you disagree with during a friendly discussion is uncalled for. It doesn't add anything to the conversation and puts you in a bad light. Those who read your future posts will ignore or have less respect for your opinion based on the ignorance of your post above. Of course you can say whatever you like, but you will find you get much further if you think about the consequences of what you say.

Allow me to clarify, then. You've presented some simple cathartic endings for a film that doesn't have a space for them. The movie presents us with a realistic situation that actually occurs, yet you offer some alternatives that would fit more in an action movie from the 80's. The point here is that there are NO easy answers. There is no single entity to confront which will solve the problem.

Your endings would have made for a very different film.

Personally, I was expecting something like that, something more "Hollywood", but I found the actual one to be more poignant, more representative of the reality of many child soldiers. It made me reflect upon this situation more deeply: about the sometimes thin line between victim and victimiser.

How do these kids live with themselves? How do they find joy and meaning in their lives afterwards? How does society perceive and treat them?