La Belva is a stylishly-made-but-ultimately-generic actioner with a father-saves-daughter plot that's been done to death. Leonida Riva is an ex-army veteran suffering from PTSD and has partially disconnected himself from his wife and children. When his little daughter gets kidnapped, he revives the beast inside of him to get her back. A film that goes the 'Taken' route with slightly more layered characters, La Belva's strength lies in its set-pieces. Though there's nothing we haven't already seen, there's some beauty in the staging of a car chase or a good ol' fashioned fist-fight.
As in the case of action thrillers, fallacies (Riva infiltrates places with ease) in continuity and logic are conveniently ignored. The climactic finale gets over even before it begins; the weakest of all. Fabrizio Gifuni's rugged, tough-man act is befitting the film's plot, while the rest of the cast is adequate. La Belva offers nothing new to the genre, but as an action-movie fanatic, it didn't put me to sleep either.
As in the case of action thrillers, fallacies (Riva infiltrates places with ease) in continuity and logic are conveniently ignored. The climactic finale gets over even before it begins; the weakest of all. Fabrizio Gifuni's rugged, tough-man act is befitting the film's plot, while the rest of the cast is adequate. La Belva offers nothing new to the genre, but as an action-movie fanatic, it didn't put me to sleep either.