REVIEW: ‘Hundreds of Beavers’ is a wacky cartoonish film for adults
Photo: Beware the beavers in Hundreds of Beavers. Photo courtesy of film company / Provided by Justin Cook PR with permission.
The deliriously enjoyable Hundreds of Beavers has been an indie hit in movie theaters, and now the comedy is gearing up for a VOD release Monday, April 15. In the film, Ryland Brickson Cole Tews portrays a fur trapper stuck in the cold wilderness of the 19th century trying to amass enough tokens to win the heart of the local woman (Olivia Graves) he loves. In order to gather those tokens — a premise very much like a video game — he must kill hundreds of beavers (hence the name) and deliver their pelts to the woman’s father (Wes Tank).
What transpires in this black-and-white movie, which features no traditional dialogue, is a madcap race of cartoonish violence. The attempted kills are exaggerated affairs, often resulting in dead beavers, injuries to the fur trapper or both. The adventures take place on the snowy landscape of tundra country, where frostbite is possible and fur trapping is a time-honored tradition.
There’s a haunting beauty to these fevered antics. Director Mike Cheslik, who co-wrote the story with Tews, bases much of the plot in a heightened reality with trees, snow, lakes and wilderness that appear simultaneously real and yet created by CGI, and the animals are represented by ridiculously goofy costumes that wouldn’t be out of place in some Walt Disney World knockoff amusement park.
Hundreds of Beavers is brilliant fun, and it’s no wonder that audiences have enjoyed these wild adventures throughout these past few weeks. There’s something so childish about the proceedings that one has to laugh and be transported back to the time when those beloved cartoons dominated the Saturday morning TV landscape. Tews’ character is very much an Elmer Fudd kind of guy, and those beavers are the pesky Bugs Bunny, always evading the bullet or chop of the ax.
On its surface, the movie is quite violent. There are hundreds and hundreds of deaths, many of them grotesque and graphic, but the filmmakers don’t stylize the carnage in a realistic way. When a beaver inevitably dies, the audience knows because Xs are crossed over their eyes, and when one beaver falls, another 10 are ready to take its place. This is not rated-R violence; this is a silly cartoon meant for adults.
Hundreds of Beavers doesn’t require much thinking, and one would be hard-pressed to find some type of societal commentary throughout these 108 minutes. Instead, this is pure fun, based on an original idea and exquisite execution.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Hundreds of Beavers (2024), directed by Mike Cheslik, was written by Cheslik and Ryland Brickson Cole Tews. Starring Tews, Olivia Graves and Wes Tank. Running time: 108 minutes. Not rated. Rating: 
