Cocaine Bear Review: A Movie So Daft, It’s Actually Fun

Cocaine Bears, a new film directed by actress and filmmaker Elizabeth Banks, is based on a premise full of the absurdity, lack of logic, and silly, second-rate action that you’d only see in a certain kind of direct-to-video movie. However, in this case it is completely intentional; It’s not exactly a small-budget film, and it has the backing of Universal Pictures in it. Based on a real-life incident that happened in 1985, Cocaine Bears is a 95-minute gore-fest that has all the makings of a cult classic, and here’s my spoiler-free review.

Now, while I say spoiler-free, there really isn’t much to spoil here. The plot gist of Cocaine Bear is what you’d expect from reading the absurd but accurate title — an American black bear ingests millions of dollars’ worth of cocaine, and then goes on the kind of drug-fueled rampage that would make anyone Could only imagine from a wild bear.

The film is equal parts silly, gory, and downright ridiculous, with plenty of laughs and squeals thrown in to underline the film’s campy and corny nature. Produced on a budget of roughly $35 million — most of which went into animating the drug-fueled bears with CGI, according to a report in Variety — Cocaine Bears relies on a simple setting, a relatively low-budget ensemble cast. , and ridiculously over-the-top action and gore to set the tone.

As mentioned, Cocaine Bears is based on a real-life incident that took place in 1985, but the film takes significant creative liberties beyond what actually happened. In the actual incident, a drug smuggler dropped millions of dollars worth of cocaine from a light aircraft he was piloting, which crashed in the woods of northern Georgia.

An American black bear is said to have ingested and ingested a large amount of cocaine, and was found dead by authorities. Contrary to the fictional premise of the rest of the film, no casualties or attacks on humans were reported by this bear. Now you know that reality isn’t as wild as fiction, at least in this case.

The ensemble cast, which includes Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr., and the late Ray Liotta in lead roles, does what it needs to do — serve as fodder for the drugged and chaotic bears. That said, his own motivations and back stories come into play, but thankfully the film doesn’t spend much time explaining it all.

The remarkable set of characters folds into a handful of sensible categories; A pair of lost children are being searched by a mother, drug smugglers hoping to recover drugs from the jungle, law enforcement officers chasing drug smugglers, and miscellaneous characters who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Interestingly, the movie is also wildly unpredictable as you have no idea who is going to die next, with lots of innocent bystanders going down in bloody (but laugh-worthy) ways.

This brings me to the main character of the film – the titular Cocaine Bear. The product of some impressive CGI and well-executed action sequences, the ripe American black bear naturally behaves in a completely unexpected way and is contrary to the natural instincts and behavior of the species. Bear is fast, stealthy, and with enhanced abilities, obsessed with only one thing – finding more cocaine to feed his addiction.

This is what often saves more sensible characters and dooms unfortunate victims. A simple sniff of cocaine infuses a bear with energy and newfound aggression, and the premise of the story implies that there is plenty of drug just lying around, waiting to be found.

Make no mistake, Cocaine Bear is downright ridiculous. However, it never pretends to be anything. It’s a silly, surreal comedy-horror that doesn’t bore you or go on for too long, and is well worth your time. Don’t think too much about it, just go see it.