'Cocaine Bear' Review: Elizabeth Banks Drops a Snorting Slasher Icon Who Roars Up a Gory Good Time
Cocaine Bear
R: Language, some sexual content, and nudity
Runtime: 1 Hour and 35 Minutes
Production Companies: Lord Miller Productions, Brownstone Productions, Jurassic Party Productions
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Director: Elizabeth Banks
Writer: Jimmy Warden
Cast: Keri Russell, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Christian Convery, Alden Ehrenreich, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Brooklynn Prince, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Kristofer Hivju, Hannah Hoekstra, Margo Martindale, Ray Liotta
Release Date: February 24, 2023
In Theaters Only
In 1985, drug smuggler Andrew Thorton II (Matthew Rhys) threw duffel bags of cocaine from the sky and into a Georgian forest. A curious 500-pound American black bear comes across the duffel and ingests the hell out of that cocaine. Her brown eyes turn red, and she goes on a murderous coke-fueled rampage.
Amid the bear’s murderous mayhem in the forest, various parties go on a wild goose chase. Rebellious teenage painter Dee Dee (Brooklynn Prince) resents her mom Sari (Keri Russell) for dating someone so quickly after her fathers passing. She skips school with her best friend Henry (Christian Convery) to hang out in the park and encounters the drugs and the bear. After learning of Dee Dee’s school absence, Sari goes into the forest to find the kids and bring them home safely. She goes to no-nonsense Ranger Liz (Margo Martindale) and animal activist Peter (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), whom Liz pines for, for help. Meanwhile, down-on-his-luck detective Bob (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) travels from Tennessee to Georgia to track the remaining duffel bags in hopes of finally capturing ruthless criminal drug lord Syd (Ray Liotta). Syd, busy caring for his grandson, assigns Daveed (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) to track down his absent son Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich) and retrieve the rest of the bags.
Universal Pictures is churning out new cinematic horror icons for 2023. First, they introduced the AI M3GAN sashaying and slaying people. Now we have Cocaine Bear. The Georgia-based black bear digested so much white powder she became as strong as Popeye on spinach. Let’s just say the murder in that bear’s eyes is so horrifying you’d think Leonardo DiCaprio went with a slap on the wrist in The Revenant. In Elizabeth Banks’ latest directorial effort, she provides a high-octane thrill ride that reinforces a crucial wilderness survival rule: don’t feed the animals.
Following her work on several comedy flicks, such as Pitch Perfect 2 and Charlie’s Angels, Cocaine Bear has director Elizabeth Banks find her true inner beast as a filmmaker through horror. Strictly behind the camera this time around, without even a cameo, an inspired Banks channels the essence of over-the-top horror flicks and creature features of the ‘80s, making her CG bear into a full-on slasher figure. Given that this is a CGI-heavy film, her staging and choreography for the horror sequences make the kills thrilling and fun.
If you were disappointed by the lack of blood and gore in M3GAN, then you’ll love how unapologetically graphic Cocaine Bear is. With this being Banks’ first horror/R-rated feature, she goes off the rails with every death, reaching an over-the-top Final Destination level of insane.
Jimmy Warden’s (The Babysitter) wacky script hits the right pitch, matching the over-the-top horror elements to a western-styled screwball comedy. With the drugs being the central device for various parties to find, the quirky characters hold their own as fun comedic personalities to follow. Overall giving the vibe of Rat Race meets Godzilla, Warden’s script is actively aware of its wackiness and doesn’t try too hard with its R-rated vulgarity to overstep the bear’s presence.
Cocaine Bear is a significant improvement from Charlie’s Angels for Banks where her cast members are well-versed in comedy and play off each other’s personalities above all else. A few standouts include Alden Ehrenreich and O’Shea Jackson Jr. in this buddy relationship where the drug lord’s son is a brokenhearted loser, and his tough best friend tries to cheer him up while they look for the drugs. Another notable duo that prospered from natural comedic banter was Margo Martindale as a no-nonsense park ranger who fawns over a regular country guy who’s obsessed with nature (played by an unrecognizable Jesse Tyler Ferguson).
While Warren’s script strikes a balanced tone, it falters with beats far too convoluted for its good. During the cops-and-robbers aspects of the story, some unnecessary and unearned twists come into play. It’s not like I’m trying to call out plot holes and cliches in a movie called Cocaine Bear. Just know one of the “major” plot twists had me rolling my eyes.
Thankfully, the film blends the use of CGI and practical effects, especially in some body horror moments. But sometimes the CGI on the bear isn’t the best. The folks at New Zealand-based Weta FX, who crafted this photorealistic bear from the ground up, did a fine job making her a genuine terror that interacts well with their human players. That said, sometimes the animation doesn’t look fully rendered, especially for a studio comedy. Creature features usually bear (ha-ha) low budgets, so I don’t mind the CGI’s shortcomings. However, it negatively impacts the immersion during the film’s climax that takes place in a nighttime environment. The CGI overload disrupts the suspense. Yet, even with its lows, Cocaine Bear is very entertaining.
Cocaine is a hell of a drug and Elizabeth Banks’ Cocaine Bear is a hell of a wild ride. Unleashing a fury of thrilling, gory horror and screwball comedy, Cocaine Bear is a crowd-pleasing delight that roars in a new slasher icon for the year.
