Tigers Vs. Bears: The Movie (2020 film)

warning: this is not a real movie.Tigers Vs. Bears: The Movie is an American computer-animated comedy adventure film directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. It is produced by Universal Studios and distributed by Illumination Entertainment. It stars Lennon Richardson and Gabriel Combs reprising their roles from the series, with Josh Brolin, Danny DeVito and Nick Jonas joining the cast.

The film was released theatrically in the United States on August 22, 2020. The film was a box office success, grossing over $1 billion against a $500 million budget, making it the highest grossing film of 2020, and received critical acclaim for its plot, casting, humor, performances, and faithfulness to the series. A sequel is scheduled to be released on August 21, 2021.

Plot
Shortly After the Events of the Series, Bill (Gabriel Combs), an evil Bear that likes to steal stuff, steals the Stranger Things Season One Blu-Ray. As he escapes the store, he is chased by Tom (Lennon Richardson), a heroic tiger and his arch nemesis. Tom captures Bill and returns the Blu-Ray to the store. The Mayor (Danny DeVito) promises the town that this will never happen again, but the people force the Mayor to lock Tom and Bill in the zoo for their actions, believing that the town should get rid of them.

The townspeople call in Hunter Brown (Josh Brolin), an animal hunter who plots to exterminate all animals and use their fur as a coat. He agrees with the town that Tom and Bill should be “exterminated” and killed. Hunter goes to the zoo to prepare Tom and Bill for their upcoming deaths.

At the Zoo, Tom and Bill get into a fight, but overhear the guard talking about Hunter’s plan. Tom tries but fails to convince Bill to team up with him for one time to break out of the zoo. Hunter arrives and promises the animals that a “special surprise is in store for the “. Bill overhears the plan and teams up with Tom due to wanting to survive until he is 80.

Tom and Bill defeat the Animal Control Officers and escape into the wild. Hunter discovers their escape and kills the owner of the Zoo for his failure to keep the animals in store. Hunter plots to capture every animal in the world to kill them, starting with Tigers and Bears. He goes to retrieve the other Tigers and Bears. He also rents a helicopter to capture the animals.

Tom and Bill arrive in the Wild to find shelter. Bill reveals that he had a house hidden in the wild during the events of the series, as that is where he hid during the fights. Bill introduces Tom to the house as he wanted to be evil due to loneliness. Bill still wants to be evil and stay that way for the rest of his life. Hunter and the townspeople arrive and destroy Bill’s home, leading to Tom and Bill’s escape.

Tom and Bill wins up in a Hotel for the night and discover their plan to “exterminate” every tiger and bear out there. They then discover that they are destroying the Wildlife and making a City out of it. Tom and Bill prepare for battle as they prepare to fight Hunter again and save the entire Wildlife in the process.

In the Wildlife/Future City, Tom and Bill discover the “stop-build button” and Bill distracts the guards as a Dancing Bear meme. Tom discovers Hunter arriving and is attacked. Hunter overpowers both Tom and Bill, who stop being friends due to their failure and blaming it on each other.

Hunter is revealed to have captured every animal and separated Tom and Bill into the Tiger and Bear cage. Tom and Bill convince the animals to escape and work together to defeat Hunter. Tom and Bill push the stop button and Bill kicks Hunter out of the window, presumably killing him in the process.

The bears and tigers run free and the Wilfdlife is back to normal. The townspeople realize the error of their ways and decide to accept Tom and Bill as themselves and go back to normal. The Mayor promises to stop locking them in a zoo as long as they stop fighting, but they immediately start fighting again and everything goes back to normal.

In a mid-credit scene, Hunter is revealed to be alive with a broken arm and locked up in prison. He is recruited by a psychopath that kills animals and the two unite to get revenge.

Cast

 * Lennon Richardson as Tom, a heroic tiger who protects the city of Alaska from Bill’s evil deeds.
 * Gabriel Combs as Bill, Tom’s arch enemy who loves to steal stuff from the store.
 * Josh Brolin as Hunter Brown, an evil Animal Control Employee who plots to kill Tom and Bill.
 * Danny DeVito as The Mayor, the mayor of Alaska who protects Tom and Bill in defences.
 * Nick Jonas as Benny Johnson, Hunter’s right-hand man who is also a zookeeper.

Production
The film was officially announced on July 12, 2018, one month after the end of series, as a conclusion. Combs and Richardson were announced to reprise their roles for the film. Brolin, DeVito, and Jonas were announced to be cast in unannounced roles for the film. A teaser was released on October 31, 2019, with the reveal of DeVito, Brolin, and Jonas’ characters. Brolin was announced to be portraying the villain. The first feature-length trailer was released on February 7, 2020, with the plot, cast, and official title revealed.

Reception
The film received critical acclaim for its plot, casting, humor, performances, and faithfulness to the series. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a 97% score, with an average rating of 8.77/10. The site’s critical consensus reads, “Tigeres Vs. Bears returns with a new feature-length film that remains a fast-paced funny adventure that fans of the series are bound to enjoy.” On IMDb, the film has an average rating of 8.8/10.

Release
The film was released theatrically in the United States on August 22, 2020. It was also released digitally on October 29, 2020, and on Blu-Ray and DVD on November 10, 2020.

Sequel
A sequel, titled Tigers Vs. Bears Vs. Aliens, is scheduled to be released theatrically on August 21, 2021.