Well, everyone, today, we review a film that is said to be inspired by true events. Apparently, the events of this film were set in the 1980s. So now, let’s discuss this film, known as Cocaine Bear.
Plot: Loosely based on events from the 1980s, the film depicts how a shipment of cocaine accidentally dropped from an airplane, and landed in the Chattahoochee-October National Forest. It then shows how an American black started to eat some of it, and became aggressive towards others that would come near it. So, was the black bear put to death in the end?
Well, as some of us know, this film is said to be inspired by true events. Well, was this film good as a result? Well, it was okay. Here’s the thing! This film may have over exaggerated on how many people died because of the bear doing cocaine. I mean would a real bear truly succeed in choking off a leg in real life, getting a head cut off, or tunings like that? Well, then again, bears do have sharp claws, so, maybe they could successfully cut off certain parts of a human with those claws? You got me. Maybe I need to study bears more. Anyway, putting some of the possibly extreme violence aside, a lot of the characters seem more one note. Well, kids like Dee Dee, Henry, and Dee Dee’s Sari were okay, along with villains like Syd, and his two smuggler sidekicks. Bob, the black cop that’s played by Isiah Whitlock Jr., is also a good character too. The rest of the cast seemed to feel more like a mixed bag. That being said, one could argue that around half of the characters were decent to good, while the other half was not all that likable. That is due to the likable half getting fairly well-developed, while we could have maybe known the other half a little better. So, could this film have been done better in that regard? Maybe cut out some of them? Perhaps! Or maybe make this movie a little longer than it was? Either way, as mentioned before the characters were a mixed bag of memorable, and not as memorable. Also, the film may have been a little more violent than it should have been in the end. Thankfully, this film was given an R-rating, and not a PG-13 rating, but still.
Well, if there was anything to like about this film was, again, half of the characters were somewhat likable. Also, there are some very interesting twists that occur near the end of this film as well. I will also say that I’m very surprised that actress Elizabeth Banks directed this film. Does she have a big taste for violent films? Perhaps! Again, you got me!
And that’s my review for Cocaine Bear. The film does have some good action, and some fairly memorable characters here, and there. Also, it was cool to see some nice action scenes, and have an education of the whole cocaine deal that occurred in the 1980s. Whether this film was based on a true story, or not, this is not a film that maybe you’ll want to see once, but not see ever again after that. I would say just wait until it’s cheaper to see this film either On Demand, or somewhere else, and just see the new Ant-Man film, or Jesus Revolution, or some other film in the meantime.
Final Grade: D
Matthew’s Animated & Live-Action Movie Reviews 