By Josh Ball
As more Disney classics enter the public domain, Bambi, the innocent little deer, is next to become less innocent. The newest cult classic uses the beloved childhood character Bambi in a new light.
“Bambi: The Reckoning” centers on a mother protecting her son from a mutated, killer deer in a UK forest. Surprisingly, it dealt with deep themes, albeit shallowly. But mostly, it was just confusing.
From the opening sequence, I could tell “Bambi: The Reckoning” was going to be a bumpy ride. It set the stage for Bambi, now a father, to search for his son at any cost, leading the audience to consider what they would do for their children.
This drew the audience in well. But then the movie did nothing to address it. No one was forced to confront the question in any way. The filmmakers relied on horror tropes which cheapened the experience even more. These factors ultimately led to a film that skipped in moments from almost deeply thoughtful to derivative and shallow. No movie can survive such wild and immediate tonal shifts, and the audience was left wondering what to think of the movie: take it as a joke or consider it seriously?
Nothing else about the movie stood out at all. The music added little to the film. I was not expecting much for an independent film, but the hallmarks of a great score were notably absent. At no point did it build tension or raise my heart rate. To match the goal of a horror movie, these are what I wanted from the music. Failure to do so left me deeply disappointed.
The acting was another bland note. Roxanne McKee played Xana, single mother of Benji (Tom Muhleron). Neither of these performances were technically bad, but they failed to make me really believe them. Sometimes, the emotions and reactions were over the top, while at times they were noticeably monotone. This fit in with the rest of the film, not knowing what it wanted to be. My favorite performance was Nicola Wright’s Mary. The old lady only sat around and looked spacy the whole time, but Nicola Wright managed to bring depth to the role.
The script felt half-written, although there were a lot of interesting ideas. One example was the group of hunters lurking in the background which added an extra element of suspense. At some point, running from the deer turned into a mystery of solving who was paying to have Bambi killed. The big plot twist was exceptionally pointless, despite being the least confusing scene. The moment which should have been the most challenging to the protagonists was over in three seconds. With no real climax, it almost felt like production was rushed to meet a deadline.
Another example of this is Mary’s insanity. She sits in a corner absentmindedly drawing pictures of the monster deer and muttering “Bambi” over and over. Throughout the movie, she seemed to be “dreaming” where the terrorizing deer was, seeing through her eyes what was in his. This is another interesting idea that was never explained. The special connection between the matriarch and the deer could have had a number of explanations, but instead, it is ignored for the sake of the plot.
Without buildup or explanation, the pacing suffered terribly. Every scene served just to fill time instead of progressing a character’s arc and telling a story. The extraordinarily rushed movie existed only to check boxes rather than make a good story.
While few aspects of “Bambi: The Reckoning” stood out as particularly poorly executed, still fewer were exceptional. Constant tonal shifts confused the audience of what mindset they should assume coming into the movie. The failure of the score to supplement the action was disappointing. A half-baked script that abandoned great ideas for the sake of checking boxes led to rushed pacing and a confused muddled mission. I can see “Bambi: The Reckoning” becoming, for some, a beloved cult classic. But for most, it will be forgotten in the realm of middling mediocrity.
Josh Ball is a junior history major. These horror movies are achieving the impossible: making him side with Disney for extended Copyright laws. Wild.
“Bambi: The Reckoning” is streaming on Peacock
Images courtesy of Jagged Edge Productions
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