Written by: Mike Cheslik & Ryland Brickson Cole Tews
Starring: Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, Olivia Graves, Wes Tank, Doug Mancheski
Rating: [3/5]
Mediums can capture elements differently such as when looking at how animation often gets allowed the benefit of the doubt when defying the laws of gravity as opposed to live-action. Blending the two mediums together does not happen often but none manage to capture the zaniness of animation along with the texture of live-action like Hundreds of Beavers. A film that has no right to exist but the fact that it does should be cause for celebration.
Following the actions of two beavers destroying his orchard, Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) goes out to try and survive the winter. While struggling to find food, he learns from the other animals the best way to get to his desired goal will lie in finding and killing a bunch of these beavers.
Aptly described as a live-action Looney Tunes film, Hundreds of Beavers presents such a unique film, especially in the current film landscape and what gets released. Something put together on a minuscule budget, a bundle of ideas, and good execution. There’s simply nothing like it in the way it tells its simple story in the most cartoonish way possible. In addition to operating like a Looney Tunes story, it contains hallmarks and motifs to the silent film stars of yesteryear. Given that there’s no discernible dialogue to the film it needed to do plenty visually in order to drive home entertainment and it did just that.
Through its visuals the film had both immersed the audience into this snowy landscape but also reminded you of its ridiculousness when you have these animals not animated in any way but rather obviously actors wearing animal costumes. And by costumes I mean like what a mascot would wear for a sports team as in them standing upright as a human would without them at all trying to act like animals. It reminds you what budget Mike Cheslik worked with here and while it looks silly, ultimately it works for what the film wants to convey. For goodness’s sake, we even have an iteration of these beavers investigating the traps made by Jean. Therefore, we then have scenes of Jean fighting off these animals and trying to get to a place of survival and contentment, which is to survive the winter and win over the hand of the Merchant’s daughter.
Another integral element the film had to nail came in the sound design in the way it would accentuate the action taking place on screen. This remains very important for all silent films and this feature does a splendid job in that department as well. From all the doinks and the reactions by Jean, it hits all the right notes in displaying all the loony elements of the story. It really felt like an anvil would fall and hit one of these characters in the head eventually.
With all the praise I have heaped on to this film, it’s not without its faults, which mainly comes from its fairly bloated runtime. Usually that’s not a criticism directed towards a film at 108 minutes but when having such a lean story with minimal characters to connect with there came a time when diminishing returns began to show itself. This happened in the latter stages of the film and only continues as we barrelled towards the conclusion. You’d think a film with this much story would struggle to hit the 90-minute mark but this one was pushing nearly 2 hours and it never really felt like it had the juice to continue going the way it did.
No matter how anyone feels about the quality of Hundred of Beavers, its existence deserves bundles of appreciation. It brings forth the absurd comedy of a Looney Tunes cartoon in addition to some grizzly violence where we see these fake beavers cut open for their fur. Jean must do what he can in order to survive and get to the finale he deserves so some of those animals will end up with x’s over their eyes. It has plenty of comedy and displays Mike Cheslik as someone deserving so much credit for bringing this to the big screen and allowing this zany vision to come together for a jolly good time at the movies.
Films with Josh 
