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In general, animated movies tend to be light and fun—often with lovable characters embarking on an important journey of some kind. But while the characters in the animated adventure Unicorn Wars are definitely cute and cuddly, their story isn’t light and fun; it’s shockingly dark and violent.
Unicorn Wars catches up with a group of vain but war-hungry teddy bear recruits as they prepare to do battle with their sworn enemies, the unicorns. Long ago, the unicorns waged war against the teddy bears, leading them to flee the Magic Forest. But according to prophecy, whoever drinks the blood of the last unicorn will become handsome and eternal. Bluey (voiced by Jon Goiri) dreams that he will be the Chosen One. So as the troops venture into the forest on a dangerous mission, Bluey lets his years of anger and bitterness get the best of him.
Though the characters may be colorful and fluffy, with the cutest names, there’s nothing cute and cuddly about this film. Everything about this bizarre little animated adventure is unexpected. The animation is striking, with these cartoonish teddy bears on a backdrop of artistic design, painted in bright greens and purples. But what happens here isn’t fun and colorful; it’s gruesome and violent and far from kid-friendly. As the troops set out into the forest, the film tackles all kinds of heavy topics. After all, this is war—and this film holds nothing back. The characters struggle in the forest. They come across the horrifying results of war. They lose some of their own in shocking ways. And then they end up eating rainbow-colored hallucinogenic caterpillars late at night. The farther these characters get into their mission, the darker and heavier it becomes.
When the film starts out, there’s certainly a darkly comical novelty to it. It’s a gruesome movie about the prettiest of pastel-colored teddy bears—and if you’re not prepared for what’s coming, you’ll definitely find it shocking and entirely off-putting. But, eventually, the novelty of it all wears off, and what’s left is just a dark and difficult head-scratcher of a film.
Unicorn Wars definitely requires a twisted sense of humor. And, for a while, the quirkiness of it all—along with the artful animation—makes it entertaining. But the dark humor eventually gives way to something else entirely—tackling war and religion and philosophy. And though it’s certainly an unusual film that might not be enough to keep audiences engaged for the entire runtime.
You can find Unicorn Wars in select theaters and on demand beginning on March 10, 2023.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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