From now on, as a civilization, this is how we shall measure time. That is how transformative this film is. Okay, so it's not all that profound. The incredibly violent comedy/thriller from director Elizabeth Banks is a blast. Especially if you watch it in a theatre full of people. Here, the sense of community is crucial. People will interact thanks to "Cocaine Bear."

This is so because "Cocaine Bear" fully understands its identity and obligations as a bear high on cocaine. The high-concept, wild-animal premise of "Snakes on a Plane" and the euphoric publicity that preceded it make comparisons to the 2006 disaster spectacular "Snakes on a Plane" inescapable. Both films do exactly what their titles suggest, with little attempt to be more profound. The pace slows down whenever "Cocaine Bear" even slightly indulges in emotion. We are not here for this purpose. We're here to see a bear snort a lot of cocaine before going on a killing spree in the woods.

One of the many odd aspects of Banks' movie is that it is based on a factual story. Jimmy Warden, a screenwriter, has taken the basic information. A 175-pound Georgia black bear took some cocaine that a drug courier dropped from an airplane in 1985. He imagines what would have happened if the bear hadn't perished. But, instead tried the drug and developed an addiction. Instead, she just so happens to be obstructed by a bizarre group of hikers, rangers, criminals, and police officers. While she is seeking her next drug, they particularly find themselves in difficulty as they cross her path. (And lest you think this is an anti-drug movie with a preachy, puritanical message, guess again; it incorporates a parody montage of classic 1980s "Just Say No" PSAs, including one from First Lady Nancy Reagan herself).

With an unidentifiable Matthew Rhys maniacally emptying duffel bags of powder (and sprinkling in a line here and there) to retrieve them later, "Cocaine Bear" opens amid the excess of the time. Spoiler alert: He didn't. Nonetheless, several individuals search for them as they are dispersed throughout Georgia's Chattahoochee National Forest. A police detective from the Kentucky town where the smuggler's plane ultimately crashed is among them, along with a pair of mismatched buddy drug dealers (Alden Ehrenreich and O'Shea Jackson Jr.); their humorless boss (Ray Liotta in his final film role, recalling one of his signature performances in "Goodfellas"); and their boss's stoic partner (Alden Ehrenreich and O'Shea Jackson Jr.) (Isiah Whitlock Jr., perfectly deadpan as ever).

Along with a bunch of idiotic teenagers, a park ranger (a randy Margo Martindale), a wildlife expert (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), and a determined single mum (Keri Russell) searching for her 13-year-old daughter (Brooklynn Prince) and her daughter's friend (Christian Convery) who skipped school to visit the falls, other people stumbling around the woods that day include a park ranger and a wildlife specialist. The loud, vulgar characters you'd find in films like "The Bad News Bears" or "The Goonies" indicate how fantastic both of these young actors are in a retro sense.