Directed By Rhys Frake-Waterfield

Starring – Scott Chambers, Tallulah Evans, Ryan Oliva

The Plot – Deep within the 100-Acre-Wood, a destructive rage grows as Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Owl, and Tigger find their home and their lives endangered after Christopher Robin revealed their existence. Not wanting to live in the shadows any longer, the group decides to take the fight to the town of Ashdown, home of Christopher Robin, leaving a bloody trail of death and mayhem in their wake. Winnie and his savage friends will show everyone that they are deadlier, stronger, and smarter than anyone could ever imagine and get their revenge on Christopher Robin (Chambers), once and for all.

This film is currently not rated

Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 – Exclusive Trailer (2024) (youtube.com)

POSITIVES

On the heels of the single worst cinematic experience of last year, improvement wasn’t exactly mission impossible for this expanding universe, and with some much-needed self awareness and budgetary impacts, it has given the future of this franchise the kind of hopeful ambition that would’ve been laughed off, hours prior. Undoubtedly, the biggest of these newfound benefits is the addition of “Summer of 84” writer, Matt Leslie, who has not only put the previous efforts of his cohorts in the rear-view mirror, but also conjured some intriguing world-building among its ferocious antagonists that I truly didn’t see coming from this once childhood fairytale. On the former, Leslie hasn’t omitted the initial chapter as much as he’s decided to poke fun at it, articulating it as a film within this film that is meant to convey the silliness of cinematic adaptations, all while emphasizing the elements of improvement for what is considered “Real life” in the context of the world articulated. As for the latter, the film does unfortunately serve as an origins story of sorts for its characters, but the building blocks of exposition actually unveil an even darker and sinister plan beneath these creatures who kill in the woods, and while believability of seeing these characters as animals during the first film was one of its biggest problems, Leslie here has stitched together a crucial backstory that serves as the realization of the manifestations we see before us, articulating the struggle between human and animal DNA from within that does surprisingly victimize them quite a bit. Also adding to the believability in their captures is the a far deeper element of production values that improve the integrity of the finished product. As expected, not everything is quite to the level of unanimous perfection quite yet, but the detailed layers of the masks, with tangible bending of stretched skin and facial expressions, make it easier to see what the film is constantly telling us about them, and with the bold expression of some cleverly sadistic kills at their disposal, makes them feel twice as lethal as any feat of strength or resiliency during the first movie. Lastly, none of the actors from the previous film return to reprise their roles, which is a delight in itself, but the addition of Chambers as Christopher Robin cements a childlike innocence to the character that was noticeably missing during the first film, and all with a meaningfully layered depth of emotional dexterity that springs forth empathetic investment to the design of the character. I couldn’t imagine another of these movies without the Christopher Robin character, but I wouldn’t even accept a recasting at this point, as Chambers perfectly embodies everything that I expect about a boy-turned-man who grew up in the woods with magical friends, all with a screen enveloped kind of charm that really helps outline the tragedy of this film’s central plot.

NEGATIVES

Regardless of its vast improvements from a bottom of the barrel original, the Winnie the Pooh franchise still has a little ways to go before it can compete with even the most mediocre of contemporary horror films, mainly as a result of the continued hinderances that even potential behind the scenes couldn’t properly fix. My single biggest gripe with this franchise still persists, in that it’s far too serious on the kind of dramatic dependency that undercuts the fun factor of why most of its audience is here in the first place. This actually feels doubled down upon this secondary chapter, as the aforementioned backstory for the creation of the characters results in the film pursuing more of a show than tell brand of storytelling, and with exposition dump scenes that feel like the first cut in the editing room, with prolonged emphasis in the duration of their length, severely strains the pacing of a 90 minute movie to feel like damn near twice of that. In addition to this, the killers are given a bit more personality this time around, as mentioned by the producers during a pre-show making of video, and while it helps bring out the animalistic tendencies of their thirst for blood, the intended depictions here would’ve been obvious, even if said producers didn’t touch upon them. Pooh walks and strikes like Michael Myers, and Tigger is an inferior Freddy Krueger than even Jackie Earl Haley was during the “Nightmare on Elm Street” remake, with such an on-the-nose impression of him that screamed desparation. I’m fine with paying homage to famous horror icons, but deliberately ripping them off feels a bit personal to me, especially with how I grew up with the genre, and I just wish the producers found their own elements of originality to disperse to the deadly characters. Also, as previously mentioned in the positives, not everything effectively hits with the enhanced production values, as the C.G effects work is lazily unappealing, and not in ways that feel like part of the joke towards laughing at this movie’s periodic silliness. One such example pertains to Tigger’s tail, which feels like an early 2000’s video game graphic, with stalled fluidity, while another involves a character burned to ashes, with a visualization that that screams green-screen enveloping, especially as the character sits in place as she’s screaming. With the practical effects surprisingly looking believable enough while indulging in buckets of blood, I wish they left the C.G on the cutting room floor, especially with it being the constant reminder that this was a sequel to the worst looking film of 2023. The presentation amid its cinematography also continues to be too dark, occasionally obscuring the integrity of its creative kills and showmanship expression among gore that I couldn’t get enough of. While I can understand that most of the film does take place in the woods at night, a wider angle in framing could’ve helped articulate what was taking shape, in the heat of the conflict, allowing them to not only maintain the authencity in the lack of natural lighting, but also opening up the versatility of the camera work, which often feels plagued by claustrophobic captures so tightly condensed that we’re really just watching swinging limbs. Finally, The characterization for human characters also continues to be a tender vulnerability for the potential of the franchise, as with the exception of Christopher Robin, none of them receive any kind of accidental development to momentarily make us think they will be something other than a shish-kabob on the blade of one of these psychopaths. It becomes such a joke that the film throws in a major pay-off in the form of a rave, which brought forth memories of Jason Voorhees obliterating a cornfield of stoners during “Freddy Vs Jason”, that it basically serves as a way to increase the body count within a movie that surprisingly to that point hasn’t even reached double digits, and while the carnage is fun to witness, it doesn’t exactly add anything integral to the conflict, as we haven’t met, nor know anything about a single one of these idiots who are dispatched to their permanent residence in the afterlife.

OVERALL
“Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2” is a noteworthy improvement from its bargain bin predecessor, even if it’s still not enough to be seen as a credible addition to an already overstuffed genre. While Pooh and the gang dispose of carnage candy by the dozens, the film is unfortunately still missing the long-term consistency of its fun factor that effortlessly puts the camp back in campy, instead opting for a dramatic backstory and tonal majority that proves it’s still taking itself too seriously.

My Grade: 4/10 or D-