REVIEW | Loosely based on true events, the hilarious and gory Cocaine Bear is the mindless break you need

After a 500-pound black bear consumes a significant amount of cocaine and embarks on a drug-fueled rampage, an eccentric gathering of cops, criminals, tourists, and teenagers assemble in a Georgia forest.

The mid-budget 'B-movie' is slowly returning to cinemas, unbeholden to remakes, big franchises and Oscar bait. Sometimes you want a good ol' popcorn movie where you don't have to think too deeply or try to remember how this villain was foreshadowed in the previous film and follows the big reveal in that streaming series. While a little more on the gory side, Cocaine Bear is just one of those fun times at the movies, dumb mayhem with no high aspirations except to make the audience laugh and squirm.

Hilariously based on a 1985 news headline and a stuffed bear in the Kentucky Fun Mall, a drug smuggler throws bags of cocaine out of a falling plane, most of it landing in a Georgia park. An American black bear develops a ravenous taste for it and starts sniffing out the rest of the bags, leaving death and chaos behind for anyone that crosses its path.

Cocaine Bear delivers exactly as promised - blending a drug-fuelled comedy with the horror of a creature feature, and weirdly enough, it works splendidly, much like Universal's previous bloody genre mix, Violent Night. It does have a hint of that studio numbers game, but it feels like they trust the filmmakers enough to let them go wild, incorporating every ridiculous and gruesome death they can think of. Elizabeth Banks got her directorial groove on in Cocaine Bear, employing her own comedic talent to make the scenes and jokes land with perfect timing, never missing a beat.

Even the smaller, bear-free moments will make you chuckle, specifically anything involving the sweet and funny Isiah Whitlock Jr. and the absolutely adorable Christian Convery from Sweet Tooth fame. Whitlock plays a detective investigating the dead smuggler whose parachute didn't open and follows the drug trail to the park. Initially, he leans into the 80s hard detective trope but eventually gives the character a softer, teddy bear persona you cannot help but root for. His charm is only matched by Convery in this ensemble, playing a kid who skips school with his friend to hike in the park. His line delivery for such a young actor is something to marvel at, and the comedy is augmented when his cuteness starkly contrasts his very adult dialogue. Not an original trope, but one used exceptionally well throughout his scenes.

Not to say the rest of the cast isn't as brilliant - Whitlock and Convery were just my personal favourites. There are many big hitters having the most fun in their roles, and most notably, this is the late Ray Liotta's last film as a drug boss intent on getting his lost product back. I also quite enjoyed Game of Thrones star Kristofer Hivju, who's fast becoming a great character actor. Many times, it felt more like a bunch of friends making a movie together with their buddy Banks, and it helps that no one takes themselves seriously at all.

They all perfectly understood that the real star of the show is the CGI Cocaine Bear - technologically speaking, not perfectly meshed into the scenery like the lion from Beast but good enough for the kind of film that it is. What's more impressive is that our coked-up antagonist is given a personality of sorts that's not completely mindless while still retaining its animalistic rage. It's mostly terrifying, but you also get a chance to breathe in its more docile moments - when the fun side of drugs kicks in - and you get a moment to laugh without squirming.

Cocaine Bear won't be for anyone that's even a little sensitive to horror, but it's worth pushing through for the comedy. I have no doubt that it will make a truckload of money at the box office purely based on its absurd concept and great marketing and that it's insanely loosely based on true events that will drive up those numbers even more. If you're suffering from blockbuster fatigue or mentally tired from the more high-brow fare, Cocaine Bear offers a fun, mindless break you won't forget.

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE: