Directed by Mike Cheslik and co-written by star Ryland Tews, Hundreds of Beavers tells the story of a drunken applejack named Jean Kayak who, in his love for apple cider, accidentally destroys his business leaving him with nothing. He is forced to embrace the wilderness and the beavers that lay within it, only to discover that, if he wants a shot at true love and fortune, he will have to face these beasts of the forests and take down hundreds of beavers.
That’s the only plot that I want to give away about this film because I think it should be seen to be believed. The film is one of the best recent examples of a host of indie films that embrace their modest budgets and turn that into a strength rather than a hinderance. Beavers utilizes tons of green screen and VFX work but, in combination with its use of mascot costumes for the beavers, turns the film into a live-action, video game and Looney Tunes-hybrid that is able to use the more cartoonish and “fake” visual effects as part of the charm of the film. The film very much operates like a video game as the dramatic violence and slapstick humor is all used for comedic effect and is treated very casually. It makes the death of the beavers funny and the situations that Jean Kayak finds himself in all the more funny and adds to the comedic effect these scenes are supposed to have.
This film also is strong because of its story. The film is able to be well-paced because the script keeps putting Jean in interesting situations with clear goals and obstacles that keep the audience hooked dramatically. By bringing the audience along in this story with clear objective for the protagonist the comedic problems that he runs into become more interesting as we look to see how he will overcome them and what other comedic obstacles or complications might face him. The film creates video game style obstacles often for Jean as we see him trying and failing to overcome situations in different ways until he discovers an even cleverer way to solve it that is often hilarious or just goes wrong. We see Jean learn how to best take down the Beavers in his path and that earns him better tools that give him new and creative ways to more efficiently take them down in pursuit of his goal. This keeps the film’s scenes fresh, while not always presenting the audience with different settings or situations that may confuse the viewer or bring the story into territory where it may spiral out of control.
The film is kept within certain confines and uses those to create humor and enjoyment. These repeated scenarios work as they use the VFX and compositing work to create funny bits of cartoon action that change thanks to the different tools that Jean acquires to take down the Beavers. The sound effects also add a lot to comedic action and since the film uses almost no dialogue the sound helps serve the visual storytelling on display which is easy to understand and even more enjoyable to watch. This film is an absolute blast and the comedy of the action scenes alone is a reason to watch this well-edited, beautifully composed and excellently-written film.
Hundreds of Beavers is available on VOD now.
