Hundreds of Beavers

I feel like a bit of an oddball for rating an obviously authentically loved by all bizarre film as low as I do, but I just don't see it there. And I've given it a chance twice! First time a couple of weeks ago, I gave up after 15 minutes, thinking it must have hit me in a bad mood. Today, the second time, I made it to the end, but no. I didn't laugh once, and I'm not even sure what I was supposed to laugh at. When you get the Teletubbies stoned and dress them in black and white, you get stoned black and white Teletubbies. They're still Teletubbies, not an independent film masterpiece. (04/20/2024)

An extraordinary torrent of creativity in the best comedy of recent years and, at the same time, a surprising update of slapstick for the 21st century. It’s as if Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd joined hands with Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote, with the late, great Czech fantasy director Karel Zeman in the director’s chair, having just discovered the possibilities of computer graphics. This film is definitive confirmation of the proposition that a small budget is not an obstacle when you have enough ideas and creative ability. In the case of Hundreds of Beavers, the filmmakers have ideas in spades and they pack so many of them into the film that they easily fill the whole runtime, thus turning the limited resources for making the film into a strength, so the result, including the visual aspect, is outrageously funny, creative and endearing. The plot never slows down for even a minute, the individual gags progressively evolve and build up to unpredictable levels, and the film works superbly with the characters and recurring motifs while making full use of the snow-covered forest setting and the associated props. Hundreds of Beavers is a unique film and clearly a future cult classic. (10/11/2023)

Tasteless, infantile and almost unwatchable. The humour is in the style of Charlie Chaplin's worst work with a brain aneurysm, so if you're 10+ enjoy. It's a series of gags with no story and no wit, creativity or intelligence. It's all about beavers, sorry people dressed up as beavers and is it funny or does it lead to anything funny? It doesn't. A laughably unconvincing farce where lasting two hours was almost a superhuman feat. I was praying for Jigsaw to walk in the door and end this torture. In a sentence, black and white silent crap. I have not been as embarrassed watching a film as I was here in a long time. The film is lucky I don't give Boo! ratings and I appreciate that it must have taken quite a bit of work to create, but that's all – never fuckin more (maybe under the influence of various substances it can work). 3/10. (04/20/2024)

Hundreds of Beavers is a low-budget film set in snowbound 19th-century Wisconsin that combines the visuals of classic silent films with the dynamism of Warner Brothers animated slapstick, takes something of the video game aesthetic, and mixes all of these styles into a well-crafted whirlwind of bombastically funny ideas and curious situations. It's a masterclass in script construction and, in particular, the creation, repetition and expansion of individual gags, which abound with an inventiveness like no other film in a long time. I can't remember the last time I laughed in a cinema like this. For the two main filmmakers, this is a seven-mile leap forward from their previous Lake Michigan Monster, and at the same time, we have once again a wonderful demonstration that you can get a lot of value for money if you have solid ideas in your head. And that some of those ideas have the chops to make this little flick an instant comedy classic. (10/14/2023)

Jean Kayak is stranded in the North American wilderness and must learn to fend for himself. And even though he'll eventually turn into a courageous outdoorsman, hunting hundreds of beavers to buy his beloved a ring won't be easy. This frantic black-and-white slapstick combines the classic silent films of Charlie Chaplin and other legends with the poetics of Looney Tunes cartoons, the visual style of Karel Zeman, and the intense action of Wallace and Gromit. You've probably never seen anything like Hundreds of Beavers, and you definitely should. (04/17/2024)