Cocaine Bear (2023)

The earliest animal amok movie I remember seeing was 1954’s The Naked Jungle, with Carlton Heston’s South American cocoa plantation threatened by a swarm of ravenous army ants. Since than, I’ve seen plenty more, with the animals just being animals (Jaws), or triggered into a rampage by a depleted ozone layer (Day of the Animals), pollution (Prophecy) or any other modern concern about the environment. 

Except for drugged out wildlife, which director Elizabeth Banks and writer Jimmy Warden leading this emerging sub genre with Cocaine Bear.  And what a glorious first entry it is, with plenty of gory gags and funny one liners to keep you interested during its short run time.

It's like mana from Heaven.  Keep it coming, baby!

VERY loosely based on a true story of a drug smuggler ditch his load of cocaine from a plane, to have it eaten by a black bear, the film takes extreme liberties with what happened afterwards.  In real life, the bear OD’ed and is now an exhibit in a Kentucky mall. As that would make a really dull movie, Warden spices thing up by imagining the bear developing a taste for the drug and going on a rampage to get more sweet, sweet nose candy. 

Getting caught in the bear’s search for its next fix is Sari (Keri Russell, The Americans, Antlers) searching the forest for her daughter Dee Dee (Brooklynn Prince, The Turning) and her friend Henry (Christian Convery, Sweet Tooth).  Also in the forest is Daveed (O’Shea Jackson Jr.,Godzilla, King of the Monsters, Obi-Wan Kenobi) and Eddie (Alden Ehenreich, Solo: A Star Wars Story), sent by drug dealer Syd (Ray Liotta, in his final film role) to recover the missing cocaine. 

Add in a few more characters as bear fodder and, as expected, mayhem ensues. 

Do I smell like cocaine?  Please tell me I don't smell like cocaine.  If I do, I'm so screwed.

Before we get to anything, let's talk about the gore, as it's glorious.  In a Vanity Fair interview, Banks talks about loving Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead, and it shows.  The gory attacks are bloody, and at times, quite realistic.  But the more extreme moments are injected with a sense of humor, as well as the aftermath, that would fit in Raimi’s universe and have you laughing out loud.  I know I did.

The CGI bear is fine, as I’m sure Weta stretched their budget to deliver some okay creatures.  But it’s hard to quibble with occasionally sub-par CGI, as this isn't a major studio release.  And I suspect you’ll be laughing too hard at the mayhem, and how the bear reacts to ingesting cocaine, to really notice the flaws.

The acting is much better than you’d expect, and given the cast, I’m not surprised.  Everyone delivers a solid performance, giving the film a better sense of believability than you might expect from a lower budget creature feature. 

Decent actors in an obvious B-movie?  That hasn't happened in a long time

That said, the film does drag at times, by allowing the actors to perform and develop their characters.  I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but with a title like Cocaine Bear, I wish the film had a bit more coked-out bear action and a little less character development.  I'm sure the script giving depth to the characters is what attracted such a solid cast, and I'm fine with that.  It lead to some really terrific one-liners and great comedic moments.  Forgive me for wanting a bit more mayhem.

As expected, The Asylum, ever willing to jump on a hot trend in movies, plans to release Attack of the Meth Gator this summer.  While I’m sure it will be crap, Cocaine Bear is CRAP-TASTIC, a gloriously gory creature feature better than you'd expect.  Though it might drag, surprising given its short running time, it’s worth checking out before other studios ruin this sub genre.  It’s a solid addition to the nature runs amok filmography, and a great time at the movies.  I haven't had so much fun at a horror movie since Slither.  And given Bank's high praise of Raimi's movies, I'd say that's a complement at the highest level.  I say, check it out!

Yeah, we knew it was coming.  No surprise there.