Hundreds of Beavers

A black and white, essentially silent film has never been this much fun, nor has it been crafted with such exuberant adolescent heart, yet Hundreds of Beavers channels all of its ambitious, lo-fi energy into one of the most exhilarating gut-busting films I've seen in quite some time. Scrabbled together with no money, six beaver costumes, and spare time with friends Mike Cheslik creates a Looney-Tunes-level physical comedy romp, enlisting endless sight gags and simple plot mechanics that only get bigger, better, and sillier. The one-note story of an applejack farmer becoming a master beaver hunter gets elevated by revenge, romance, and subtle intelligence, leading to a climax full of payoffs that have been carefully placed throughout its runtime, amplifying Hundreds of Beavers' ability and soul. While the film isn't necessarily an emotional one, I found myself moved, if not for the characters than for the filmmaking. With no studio backing or theatrical distribution, Hundreds of Beavers has nothing to leverage and nothing to sacrifice, it's inherently itself through and through to the very end. Doing so, it soars to such great giddy heights that it's unwaveringly momentous that so much imagination still exists and proves there's still so much more to make, a true testament to the power of visual storytelling.

I first heard of this movie from YMS, shoutout to him, and I'm glad I decided to go ahead and rent it as soon as it was available. The premise looked so interesting and a lot of people were saying it was the funniest film of the year. Now obviously humor is subjective but I personally found this one pretty funny. It's a well-made movie for everything it's got.

I feel like labeling this movie as a once-in-a-lifetime movie, along the same lines as the LOTR trilogy, Boyhood, and Everything Everywhere All At Once, for example. It must have been since Charlie Chaplin died that we've had a brilliant silent black-and-white movie like this one, and I'm not sure we'll see another. It's very rare to find something that can be both silly and hilarious, if that makes any sense. Just about every choice for this movie really does enhance the overall experience. The editing isn't smooth but I think that helps add to the silliness of the premise. You can tell it's just an actor running in place for example, and that's a good thing. The visual gags surprisingly never get old, combining all-too familiar visual gags with some brand new, more modern gags. It manages in a very good way of keeping a nostalgic and familiar feel while appealing to more modern audiences, and even the modern stuff I feel is going to take a very long time if at all to be outdated. There is character development and you cheer for the character to succeed, and there is spectacular setup and payoff for everything involved.

A couple things held it back from being a 10/10. I feel like the beginning wasn't executed as well as the ending in terms of comedic value, but I will say that does make the movie better and better as it goes along, which many movies are unable to accomplish. There were a couple of messy camera shots that really just left me confused (I'm thinking of the wolf attack) and had me just wondering what happened instead of the clarity of the story from the majority of the shots. A couple of the editing choices were questionable during the final action sequence but were otherwise very fitting and expertly crafted. These are honestly pretty minor things and I may change my rating to a 10 later on. My ratings not going down from here I can tell you that.

I have to say this movie is very impressive considering not many comedies these days can actually work at making you laugh. This is the highest rated comedy film that I can find on imdb after some Charlie Chaplin movies. And it has a reported budget of only $150,000???? That's insane. We're talking ONE THOUSAND TIMES LESS money than a typical Hollywood big blockbuster movie. Apparently they only had enough budget money to afford FIVE beaver suits to be used over and over again for this film. And it's still a better movie than 90% of Hollywood movies today. 100s of recommendations (see what I did there haha) for this movie; absolutely go check it out and support it.

I didn't see a parent guide for this film so I thought I'd add one so parents can decide if they want their children watching it. There is a tad bit of gore but it's black not red, and there is some impaling and other intense stuff, but those sections are very cartoony and not gory. There are also some sexual gags (objects shaped like breasts and a penis specifically; this stuff may go over some children's heads) and there is one sequence that lasts about 30 seconds of a woman pole dancing (she is clothed while doing it). Alcohol and tobacco references exist but I think that's about it; hope I gave a good overview for that.

Endlessly inventive in the style of a 1920's silent movie, Hundreds of Beavers asks the question, what do you get when you cross Wile E Coyote with Buster Keaton and set him loose in the wilds of a Wisconsin winter? The answer is a damn good time despite - and in some cases because of - the low budget effects and cheap production values.

Blending animation with live footage, the movie is a series of pratfalls, skits and visual gags that could just as easily be tasks in a video game, or else a drunken dream brought on by imbibing too much cider.

Humans wearing animal onesies are a terrific stand-in for anthropomorphized cartoon characters. Similarly, the fact that the over the top violence more often than not results in death also seems more appropriate to the live action genre.

It's unlikely that Disney will come calling anytime soon (unless they discover a market for a pole dancing princess), which means you'll just have to take a chance and discover the charm of this movie's raw, unpolished nature on your own.

This is basically a 108 minute Wiley E. Coyote movie about an apple orchard owner who brews his own alcoholic cider. One autumn, beavers decimate his business, leaving him to tough out the long winter without food or shelter.

I knew that premise going in and I was still not prepared for just how Looney Tunes this concept is. It has a very low budget, indie movie quality to it. All the animals are either puppets or just people in mascot costumes, with tons of green screen and simple CGI compositing to make it all work.

And it really does work. This movie knows it's incredibly dumb looking, but it leans into it, nailing the perfect tone of like, cartoon silliness meets silent film accelerated motion.

Yet the movie manages to keep a bit of an edge to it. Despite being very slapstick and Looney Tunes, I would not necessarily say this is a movie for little children. Silly as it may be, this is a story about a man learning to survive on his own in the wilderness, and there are times where it can be a little dark and adult. That's all part of its charm.

I find the whole thing very fun and refreshing, though I'm not entirely sure I'd want more of it than just this one movie. But while it lasts, this is a great movie full of lots of surprises.

This is the sort of movie where you really need to be relaxed and feel that you have nothing else you need to be doing. My husband, son, and I went to view this film at a local indie theater. It was their last showing of the year. I knew the film was long but was so curious about such a unique concept that I bought tickets for all three of us despite the busy-ness of the holiday season. I ended up feeling like the film could have been finished 30 minutes sooner. With that being said, there were some laughs, some unexpected moments, and some zaniness in a truly creative and impressive way. While I wouldn't just recommend this movie to anyone (would rather tell them what they need to know to make their own decision), the truth is that I am still thinking about this film.

You should only watch it if you appreciate film as art and appreciate creativity. Definitely not for the average person who only likes the Hollywood type of film.