A beautifully crafted and performed blend of Looney Tunes madness, physical comedy gags, and silent film artistry, Hundreds of Beavers delivers filmmaking ingenuity at its most energetic and entertaining.
Like a Vitamin B12 shot, Hundreds of Beavers is just the kick needed to lift a populace of cinema pundits from the doldrums of modern mainstream moviemaking. Directed by Mike Cheslik, who co-writes with Rylan Brickland Cole Tews, Hundreds of Beavers is as impressive in its craftsmanship as it is engrossing in its story of man vs wild that evokes the slapstick artistry of classic Looney Tunes adventures with the energetic filmmaking style of Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead.)
Rylan Brickland Cole Tews stars as Jean Kayak, an apple-jack salesman whose distillery is destroyed by a group of beavers. Out of business and out of his depth in the snow-driven wilderness, Jean learns how to survive in the elements while courting the daughter (Olivia Graves) of a merchant (Doug Mancheski) who demands a steep price for his daughters’ hand: one hundred dead beavers.
Shot in black and white and with no dialogue, Ceslik adds playful 2D animation elements along with a wonderfully composed score by Chris Ryan to create a wholly engaging adventure comedy spectacle. Quick-cut editing (also by Ceslik) gives the film a pop and pace that never drags despite its almost two-hour runtime. The sight of actors dressed in animal costume to depict the wildlife, meanwhile, delivers a surreal zest as if Sesame Street blended with Jeremiah Johnson by way of Evil Dead II, with Hundreds of Beavers a playfully violent movie that literally lets the fur fly.
Speaking of which, lead actor Rylan Brickland Cole Tews delivers a hilarious performance of pantomime perfection, evoking the madcap energy of vintage Bruce Campbell and the physicality of Buster Keaton in his portrayal of a simple man who learns that to achieve survival of the fittest is to slay beaver with extreme prejudice. If there was an Oscar for facial expressions alone, Cole Tews would win.
With its use of action as language and an innovative use of monochrome visuals, Hundreds of Beavers delivers as a gut-busting funny and mesmerising live-action cartoon of little comparison.
