Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 – Film Review
Reviewed by Harris Dang on the 28th of March 2024
Umbrella Entertainment presents a film by Rhys Frake-Waterfield
Produced by Scott Jeffrey and Rhys Frake-Waterfield
Starring Scott Chambers, Tallulah Evans, Ryan Oliva, Eddy MacKenzie, Lewis Santer, Marcus Massey, and Simon Callow
Cinematography Vince Knight
Edited by Dan Allen and Rhys Frake-Waterfield
Music by Andrew Scott Bell
Running Time: 93 minutes
Rating: R18+
Release Date: the 28th of March 2024
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 continues the story of Christopher Robin (now played by Scott Chambers), who survived the tumultuous and grisly events of the prequel, where his childhood animal friends, Pooh and Piglet, slaughtered a group of women. Their anger and sense of betrayal toward Christopher has long festered since he left them for dead to live his own life.
In the present, Christopher reveals the whereabouts of Pooh and Piglet, leading to a town-wide manhunt of Ashdown. However, when the townsfolk are unable to find evidence of the killers’ existence, Christopher is branded as the town pariah.
Many of the townspeople make the assertion that he killed the women. However, that is the least of Christopher’s problems. The creatures of the Hundred Acre Wood plot to undertake a massacre throughout Ashdown and extract revenge on him.
Blood and Honey 2 is the sequel to the maligned original 2023 film. While the prequel swept the Razzie Awards in nearly all categories and received a critical mashing, it nevertheless tickled audiences’ curiosity. With its idiosyncratic premise of meshing iconographic childhood favourites with taboo ultraviolence, it intrigued many and returned a healthy box office profit. A sequel was guaranteed. Now armed with a bigger budget, a proven cast and crew, and a more ambitious script, does the sequel improve on the original and stand on its own two feet?
The original’s problems were expected due to its low budget. The shortcomings included inferior effects work, dim lighting, obvious ADR, a lack of memorable locations, script rewrites, and so on. A bigger budget has made a huge difference and negated many of these problems.
The violence and gore are now enjoyably wretched. It reaches a level of overstatement that is off-putting in its power yet comically absurd enough to be amusing. Filmmaker Rhys Frake-Waterfield and screenwriter Matt Leslie also devise some memorable set-pieces. Under their watch, death by impalement, fire chainsaws, lashings from claws and knives, countless broken bones, and triggered animal traps are just some of the kill types you will see.
The visuals and locations (with help from returning cinematographer Vince Knight) are also more vivid than before. They reach a level of magical realism that harkens back to the colour of fairy tale colours from which they draw inspiration. This is particularly true in the case of the flashbacks and dreams Christopher experiences.
Additionally, the script by Matt Leslie (best known for his writing in Summer of ’84 (2018), an underappreciated horror slasher) establishes the woodland creatures and characters with plausible backstories. The narrative takes admirable swings with its storytelling that border on metatextual and is certain to draw out laughs. Many of the jokes come at the expense of the premise, the original film’s existence, and even its adherence to genre reverence in its portrayal of the villainous woodland creatures.
For example, Pooh is a lumbering silent type who is reminiscent of Friday the 13th’s Jason Voorhees. Meanwhile, Tigger is the sadistic joker who echoes Freddy Krueger. While the handling of tone is a huge improvement over the first film (which suffered due to its self-seriousness), Frake-Waterfield and Leslie struggle to tiptoe the fine line between its emotional sincerity and genre absurdity. It also does not help that the absurdities are diluted due to the poor dialogue recording (especially from the woodland creatures like Owl).
The performances do their best to ground proceedings, making the tone shifts palatable. On the straight-faced end of the spectrum, we have Scott Chambers, who is sympathetic, believable, and manages to make the inner pain palpable and felt. The same goes for Tallulah Evans, who provides a sunny presence that offsets Chambers’ brooding well as they establish an easy-going chemistry.
On the pantomime end of the spectrum, we have veteran thespian Simon Callow who figures into the story as an oracle-like figure. His performance is heightened, over-the-top, and in on the absurdity. He makes the most out of the scant screentime. The same goes for the performances of the woodland creatures (with Ryan Oliva, Eddy MacKenzie, Lewis Santer and Marcus Massey as Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Owl, respectively). They all dig into the feral demeanours and bloodthirsty lashings with enthusiasm.
Overall, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 is everything the first film should have been. It improves upon the original and is a blood/honey-thirsty [sic] experience that blends childhood iconography with taboo ultraviolence with unbridled glee that is sure to please gorehounds.
Summary: Blood and Honey 2 is everything the first film should have been and is sure to please gorehounds.
3.5
Solid
Related Posts
A Real Pain – Film Review →
Mufasa: The Lion King (2024) Review →
Looney Tunes Blast Off to the Big Screen with ‘The Day the Earth Blew Up’ →
