The Gruesome Cartoon Movie Ending That Lingers Fans
Out of all the adult-oriented animated films I have ever viewed, nothing has lingered in my mind as much as the dread-soaked conclusion of a viscerally violent and deeply subversive 2022 movie The Unicorn Wars.
Back in 2015’s, the Spanish filmmaker crafted a grim, melancholy , frequently brutal universe with some tiny , desolate twinges of optimism.
While The Unicorn Wars appears as it came from a drive to push the medium even more, the filmmaker clarified that it was rather a try to express a global, multicultural theme regarding “the shared root of each battle.”
That message is communicated via a squad of vividly colored bears , clearly based on a well-known series of cuddly characters.
Being raised in a community focused on aggression as well as the military-industrial complex, many of these creatures are fixated on slaughtering unicorns, thanks to a religious scripture which states them they previously were kings of the woodland, until the unicorns forced them out.
Some did not entirely bought into the propaganda, and choose to try out substances or fornicate in the forest.
Unlike their cuddly counterparts, these bright beings have visible genitals , definite urges.
For one notably brutal, pessimistic creature, Bluey, the war against unicorns becomes a path to control — and specifically to dominance above his gentler, nicer brother the character Tubby.
This bear behaves aggressively , an obvious antisocial figure , and while horror takes over his unit and kills his fellow soldiers individually, he grabs progressively power for himself, through ever more bloody, harmful methods.
At the same time, these mythical beings are enduring their own horror, as a growing, destructive monster in their habitat.
“In the early stages, it seems like a humorous movie,” the director said. “But then it becomes a more serious and melancholic film. And ultimately, it’s a horror film.”
The Unicorn Wars begins feeling a bit like one of the more whimsical movies by an iconic filmmaker, that uncover a wicked pleasure in letting animated figures swear, engage in violence, or sex each other up.
Afterward it becomes more akin to a more grim movie from that artist, with increasingly explicit brutality , a tangible connection to genuine suffering of battle.
Ultimately, it’s a complete theatrical horror carnage.
The horror that turns the film a Halloween-friendly watch starts a lot earlier than indicated.
The Unicorn Wars is one for the hardcore fans of gore, for lovers of intense movies who desire to watch something they’ve never seen on-screen before, and who can handle a narrative which delivers unflinching brutality.
View it with the lights off without any distractions, and the finale will dig under your skin and stay with you.
Where to watch: Offered for digital rental or sale on multiple streaming sites.
