Last year, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey came out and it was one of the worst movies I had seen that year. The movie was made on a micro-budget, yet the movie was very popular and grossed over $5 million. Blood and Honey 2 has been released with a much larger budget, and to my surprise, delivered a decent film.
Before the movie started, the theater showed a message from director Rhys Frake-Waterfield and producer and lead Scott Chambers. While they announced their planned cinematic universe, I couldn’t stop thinking that while this whole idea is incredibly silly, these people care about telling these stories. Will they be great movies? Maybe, but I know at the very least they will be made with passion.
As for the movie itself, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 is a massive improvement over the first movie. Scott Chambers takes over as Christopher Robin and I appreciated that he was made an actual person, dealing with the internal and external struggles caused by the events of the first movie. Being a producer helps him channel that passion into his performance.
The surrounding cast is a big improvement too. Tallulah Evans plays Lexi, Chris’s best friend and she alone adds so much more to the emotional depth of the movie. There is genuine care between the two and it helps add a more personal level with all the carnage around them. We also meet Christopher’s family and learn how supportive they are through his crisis. While murders are being found daily, they never waver in their belief in their son. Their daughter Bunny is adorable and motivates Chris to go on the offensive towards the beasts.
Pooh and Piglet look so much better as well. Major props go to the makeup and costume design team because they made them look so much scarier than before. We are introduced to Tigger and Owl, (with more characters to be introduced in the next movie) and they also look well done. My only critique here is that so much of the movie takes place in the dark and it was hard to distinguish between Tigger and Pooh until you could see either in the light. We learn their backstory which was an interesting way to tie them to Christopher Robbin in a way we wouldn’t expect.
Now the Blood and Honey 2 steps up the gore and action a lot. There is a lot of blood spilled and the movie gets creative. In the first movie, the beasts were said to be more animalistic, yet would walk around with sledgehammers and knives. Here they are a bit more feral. They scratch, claw, and rip people apart with all. They are incredibly violent, and the movie focuses on the damage they could do if given the opportunity.
Now, while there are notable improvements, there is still a fair amount of things to dislike. The movie scenes were extremely predictable. Chris had a scene, and then the beasts did. Chris had a scene, and then the beasts did again. That was the case until the finale. It made it harder to feel tension because I knew the next scene would be more exposition or I would know a kill scene was coming.
The story of Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 nothing special. It very broadly sees Chris deal with society believing him to be the murderer, while Pooh and the other beasts just want to kill everyone. But in all honesty, I wasn’t expecting much of anything in terms of a story or characters so anything slightly good was a huge bonus.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 is a massive improvement over the first film. It won’t be considered a classic by any means but this is a movie that I can see being a party movie just to have fun with. The kills get wild, the characters have a bit of depth to them, and the movie doesn’t take itself too seriously. When you hear the line “It’s Poohin Time”, you know you’re in for a treat.
