Bear

Bear sees a Jack's girlfriend storming out of the house to go on her bike ride, clearly angry about something although he seems oblivious to it. The second she is gone though, he heads out to get her surprise ready – but Jack always does have a habit of taking things too far.

This short film is very well made technically, with nice interiors which fill the first third of the film and then very good exterior shots to make up the rest. The gag is a simple one and to be honest if you know anything about the film at all then you will know roughly where it is going – particularly the final "joke" of the film. I say "joke" not because the film isn't funny but more to highlight that it is not a silly short but rather a cringe-inducing one with big consequences. It is nicely delivered though and the seriousness of the incidents and the very well delivered stunts add a sense of real darkness to the comedic events, a tone that works well. That said, the film doesn't have too much outside of this and it is essentially one joke, and even at 10 minutes it is probably longer than it needed to be.

Nash Edgerton writes, directs and leads the film well and looking at his resume on IMDb he is clearly someone who likes to keep busy, with a large number of blockbuster films where he does stunt work, interspersed with short films and other works where he does other roles, such as this one. While Bear is not strong enough to make a big impression outside of the impact of the punch-line, Edgerton is clearly worth a look to see his many other outputs.

Spider was so enthusiastically received by the public that fans constantly asked the director if Jill survived and, if so, if she would continue with Jack after that. In answer to both questions, came the direct sequel Bear. To paraphrase "Jack, you always go too far. You always go one step too far" that Jill, Jack's now ex-girlfriend, had to say about his humor in Spider. Like all good sequels, Bear picks up the formula of the original and ups the ante. This time the action takes us out into the wilderness. The director liked the idea of people not being safe from Jack, wherever he was.

Jack with a new girlfriend, played by Teresa Palmer begins to unleash a birthday surprise, which is predictable because of the expectations created by its predecessor. But here Edgerton is not trying to surprise you, he plays with suspense and effective parallel editing, a very measured tempo, as Jack rushes off to meet Emilie (Teresa Palmer), to surprise her with a little birthday celebration in the woods and the most far-fetched idea of all...

*A more detailed review can be found on the youtube channel Kristonkino.