Hundreds of Beavers

I'm not sure how to review this movie. Or explain this movie. The word "unique" has been tossed around so much, it has practically lost all meaning, but please believe me when I say that this movie is, in the traditional sense of the word, unique. There is no movie like it. None. There are things it is spiritually adjacent to, like the silent era slapstick comedies of Chaplin or Keaton, and old Looney Tunes shorts, and Monty Python's animation sketches, but placing Hundreds Of Beavers even adjacent to those isn't fully representative of the sheer, unadulterated madness of this movie. Ostensibly, Beavers is about a a former applejack maker trying to trap hundreds of beavers to impress a shop owner and win the hand of his daughter, but that only captures a small part of this movie, and none of its madness. There is a war with wolves, attempts to catch fish, and more. Nothing in this movie's narrative is complex, but everything about how it was told is. Hundreds Of Beavers is the coming together of an artist's vision, in every way. Every element of it has been finely tuned to work within the madcap world this story inhabits, where animals are people in costumes and the laws of physics are mere suggestions. It applies an "all jokes all the time" shotgun blast of humor at your face and dares you to withstand it. Ludicrousness and surrealism are the defining characteristics of Beavers' style and sense of humor, in large, dump truck-sized doses, and you will know inside of ten minutes if this movie is for you. And considering this movie is an hour forty five, you're going to get a LOT of this. I really can't speak more on this movie. It's visual style and storytelling sensibilities have to be seen to be believed. It is corny, it is silly, but it is also bold and uncompromising. It does not meet you halfway. If you like Wile E. Coyote and Monty Python's absurdist animation, this might be up your alley, but prepare to be confounded anyway. If slapstick and randomness isn't your thing, though, I cannot advise you enough to stay away. This is a movie with a very, very specific style and tone, and it will not be for everybody, and it never compromises or changes. You accept Beavers as is, or you don't. I enjoyed it, and I respect it, even if it lasts a little too long, and not all of the jokes land. But more of them did than didn't, and that's good enough for me.