Studio: Universal Pictures
Release Date: 4/18/2023
Rating: R
Film Grade: C
The Story: The title pretty much gives it away. Bear finds stolen drugs in the woods, hijinks ensue. If you’ve seen the trailer, you know what to expect.
My Take: I was looking forward to this one, as a goofy, action-packed story, packed with quirky fun. And the movie kind of fills that role, but not completely. Not quite a comedy, not quite a horror film, it doesn’t feel fulfilling in either respect.
Although it’s only 95 minutes long, it felt more like two hours. There are a number of independent stories presented that eventually intertwine. Drug dealers and cops looking for the missing stash, a mom and two kids, a park ranger teaming up with a wildlife expert, a teenage gang, and others. The film splits its time among them, but none of them show or develop enough character to care much about, and largely serve as mere pawns for the bear.
Everyone in the cast is fine, and do what they can with the material at hand. The direction is uneven, as some are playing their characters as campy stereotypes, and others take their roles seriously.
Sadly, this is Ray Liotta’s last film, and it’s just a supporting role. Keri Russell plays the mom who’s juggling her career and dating life while trying to raise her daughter. It’s one of those elements that feels tagged-on, and not really important to the story.
The main star is the bear, and that’s a mixed bag. Using a combination of CGI over human motion capture and animatronics, the effect is never convincing. There’s an appropriate sense of power, speed, and menace, but it’s inconsistent. This would have been a good case of “less is more” where the audience’s imagination could have made up for what effects couldn’t achieve.
One other thing worth mentioning is the way gore is handled in the movie. Much like other elements, it’s inconsistent from scene to scene. There are instances where it takes place off-screen, or done with quick cuts, and others where grisly details are dwelled upon. The result is that gore-lovers will be left wanting, while general audiences will be turned off.
Video: This was the first film viewed on my new JVC RS3100 projector, and a good choice. As one would expect, there are a lot of nature shots in this movie and it’s well-photographed. Outdoor colors are muted, and natural, and contrast well with the bright colors of the 80’s fashion styles that are shown in the movie.
Audio: The disc features a DTS HD 7.1 mix that is unremarkable, but far from bad. The outdoors scenes have examples of natural wildlife from the surrounds, there are some good moments of bass for the subs, but nothing reaches the level of demo material. Once again, the DTS Neural: X upmixer does a fantastic job adding to the atmosphere of the movie, but it would be nice to see the Atmos mix on disc instead of only being available in the digital version.
Special Features: • Alternate Ending
• Deleted & Extended Scenes
• Gag Reel
• All Roads Lead to Cokey: The Making of COCAINE BEAR
• UnBEARable Bloodbath: Dissecting the Kills
• Doing Lines – Cast and filmmakers read lines from the scrip
Final Verdict: This may not be a movie that needed a review. The trailer gives you a good idea of what it will be like, and if you check your expectations at the door and dismiss those, “why don’t they just. . .” moments, you’ll likely be entertained for much of its 95 minutes.
Fun Fact: Yes, the movie is based on a real story, but heavily embellished.
My Review System:JVC DLA-RS3100 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
Elite Screens Sable Frame B2 117” Width with Infinitely Variable Height
Monolith by Monoprice HTP-1 16 Channel Processor with Dirac Live
Monolith by Monoprice 7x200 Watts Amp
Monolith by Monoprice 3x200 Watts + 6x100 Watts Amp
JBL Studio 590 for Left, Center, Right, Wides, and Rears
JBL Studio 580 for Side Surrounds
JBL Studio SCS 8 for Tops
JTR Captivator 1400 Subwoofer X 4
Panasonic DP-UB420 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
NVIDIA Shield Android TV - 4K
HTPC Running madVR (work in progress)
Remote: URC MX-780
Mini DSP 2X4 HD controlling all subwoofers
APC S15 Power Conditioner with Battery Backup
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