There are few movies that may ship as succinctly and precisely on their title as Cocaine Bear does. There’s a bear. She does cocaine. Therefore, the Cocaine Bear of all of it. However whereas the film comes by way of on its gloriously silly title, it nonetheless left me craving one thing further. Certain, it is likely to be unusual to say that I wished extra from a film referred to as Cocaine Bear, however I anticipate quite a bit out of any movie that guarantees a drug-fueled animal rampage — particularly one directed by Elizabeth Banks and produced by Phil Lord and Chris Miller.

If all you want out of Cocaine Bear is the best hits from its trailer, then the film is enjoyable sufficient. Sure, a bear will get right into a stash of cocaine, and sure, she proceeds to violently homicide anybody who will get between her and her beloved medication. The ensuing movie is goofy and gory, but additionally unusually missing, as Cocaine Bear spreads itself too skinny with an ensemble solid of people who cannot maintain a candle to Cocaine Bear herself.

Cocaine Bear is a wild experience primarily based on a real story.

Little do they know, they’re going to quickly meet Cocaine Bear.
Credit score: Pat Redmond/Common Footage

As bananas because it sounds, Cocaine Bear is rooted in truth. In 1985, drug smuggler Andrew Thornton (Matthew Rhys) dropped tens of millions of {dollars} value of cocaine from a airplane flying over Georgia. A black bear in Chattahoochee Nationwide Forest discovered mentioned cocaine and ingested it, dying from an overdose. Cocaine Bear imagines what would have occurred had that bear not died instantly however as a substitute embarked upon a cocaine-fueled killing spree.

It would not be a killing spree with out some individuals to terrorize, and Cocaine Bear introduces a slew of characters who most definitely didn’t anticipate their day at Chattahoochee Nationwide Forest to contain a bear on cocaine. Amongst them is anxious mom Sari (Keri Russell), who’s on the lookout for her daughter Dee Dee (Brooklynn Prince, The Florida Undertaking) and Dee Dee’s good friend Henry (Christian Convery) after studying they’ve skipped faculty. Sari groups up with Ranger Liz (Margo Martindale) and animal rights activist Peter (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) to assist observe them down. Then, there’s drug sellers Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich) and Daveed (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), despatched by drug smuggler Syd Dentwood (the late, nice Ray Liotta) to gather the misplaced cocaine. Scorching on their path is police officer Bob (Isiah Whitlock Jr.). It is not lengthy earlier than all of them cross paths with Cocaine Bear.

Cocaine Bear is a star.

Cocaine Bear is horrifying, however I additionally need to give her a hug.
Credit score: Common Footage

Whether or not she’s ramming down doorways or snorting a line off a severed leg, there is not any doubt that Cocaine Bear (aka Cokey) is a cinematic beast. Her luscious fur and cocaine-smeared muzzle place her proper on the intersection of cute forest creature and terrifying killing machine. At one level, after tearing a hiker to shreds and letting out an impressive roar, Cokey takes a second to admire a passing butterfly. The duality of bear!

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Talking of duality, Banks nails the simultaneous ridiculousness and terror inherent to the idea of a “cocaine bear” in every of the movie’s genre-bending assault scenes. A tense standoff in a park customer heart turns Cokey into the stuff of slasher nightmares. When charging after an ambulance, Cokey shows athletic abilities proper out of a high-octane motion film. But Cokey can get somewhat foolish too, scooting alongside the bottom on her again or cuddling as much as a terrified human who must be honored to be inside spitting distance of this bear icon. In truth, we must always all be honored to be watching the beginning of a brand new horror legend, as Cokey lights up the display screen every time she’s round. There’s only one drawback…

Cocaine Bear does not have sufficient Cocaine Bear.

Cocaine Bear is on a mission.
Credit score: Pat Redmond/Common Footage

Cocaine Bear is stuffed with properly dedicated performances, with particular shout-outs to Ehrenreich and Jackson Jr. for his or her buddy dynamic, and to Convery for his wired flip as a child who could have achieved some cocaine. Nonetheless, there are such a lot of disparate characters that Cocaine Bear finally ends up feeling extra scattered than a stash of cocaine within the Georgia mountains.

Banks and author Jimmy Warden do their greatest to floor their ensemble with emotionally resonant backstories, equivalent to Eddie mourning his useless spouse or Dee Dee and Sari arguing about Sari’s new boyfriend. Nonetheless, these plotlines conflict with the in any other case wild tone of Cocaine Bear, and within the movie’s rush to resolve all of them neatly, they lose their efficiency.

I didn’t come to the flicks to see Cocaine Human.

However Cocaine Bear‘s best sin of all is that in spending a lot time with these tales, it robs us of treasured time with its titular beast. In spite of everything, I didn’t come to the flicks to see Cocaine Human. I got here to the flicks to see Cocaine Bear. Banks and Warden actually solely present us Cokey by way of the eyes of its human characters, a transfer that helps give her a wee little bit of Jaws-esque mystique however squanders the idea’s comedic potential. Would you imagine we by no means see Cokey uncover cocaine for the primary time? What sort of madness would the movie have been in a position to wring out of that first excessive? And what’s the world like by way of the eyes of a coked-out bear? Cocaine Bear retains its star at an excessive amount of of a distance for us to actually inform, and that is a disgrace.

This is not to say that Cocaine Bear does not ship its fair proportion of snickers and thrills. It has genuinely laugh-out-loud moments — Ehrenreich’s supply of “A BEAR did COCAINE!” is immaculate — and its greatest kills will depart you hooting and hollering with glee. However as enjoyable and silly as Cocaine Bear is, you’ll be able to’t assist however suppose whereas watching that it might have been even extra enjoyable and even extra silly. As an alternative, the film goes into cruise management between bear-centric set items, nearly as if it bought too excessive by itself premise to push itself to actually gonzo heights. Cocaine Bear herself is an on the spot legend; I simply want I might say the identical about her star automobile.

Cocaine Bear hits theaters Feb. 24.