What’s it about?

After a drug trafficker ditches a shipment when flying over a national park, a black bear consumes a whole bunch of cocaine and goes on a rampage.

What’d we think?

Cocaine Bear is a B-movie setup that somehow snuck it’s way into a wide release and the moviegoing public should be grateful that fun crap like this still exists. The “incredibly loosely based on a true story” setup is clearly just an excuse to throw together a bunch of comedy setpieces and over-the-top gore, but there’s enough genuine fun to be had here that it’s shortcomings are very easy to overlook. We get a few groups of colourful characters thrown into the forest for various reasons, two low-level goons sent by a sleazy drug lord (Ray Liotta in one of his last performances), some kids skipping school, and character actress Margot Martindale putting in an excellent turn as the park’s ranger, but the movie never strays too far from our titular ursine heroine and the carnage that follows in her wake.

I love a movie that keeps it to a tight 90 minutes, and it’s obvious that Cocaine Bear trimmed down a fair bit of footage to keep it’s brisk pace. It definitely feels like it was the right choice to err on the side of brevity, for as silly as the movie is it never goes completely off the rails the way I wish it would have. This one’s exactly what it says on the tin, so if you think you’ll get a kick out of a movie called Cocaine Bear where a bear does a bunch of cocaine you’re probably not going to be disappointed.