Alpha Leads the Pack

Have no fear, this is not a live-action remake of Alpha and Omega, despite both movies set in the wilderness and an alpha wolf on a journey back home with a companion. Directed by Albert Hughes (The Book of Eli), Alpha takes us back to the Ice Age on how man's best friend came to be as well.

Keda with his mother and father.

When a Bison hunt goes wrong Keda (Kodi Smit-Mcphee) is separated from his tribe and presumed dead. On awaking he finds himself bruised and at the mercy of mother nature and her beasts of prey. As young Keda makes the grueling journey back home he has a run-in with a wolf pack and wound's one in the process. Feeling sorry for the poor creature his act of mercy marks the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

I went in this blind having not sent the trailer or any still of this movie. The only thing I knew was the poster that gave it a caveman quality and that it was supposed to be released back in the fall of 2017.  The movie has the oddity of being delayed for a year, originally slated for September 2017. This can sometimes be a bad sign as films like The Space Between Us and G.I. Joe retaliation were in a similar scenario the being delayed until next year and already with a trailer. Luckily this setback didn't deter the movie.

Alpha is Ice Age in reverse minus the talking animals, and filmed in the same manner of The Revenant and Apocalypto. The natives speak in their indigenous language followed with English subtitles, and the landscape is filmed like a National Geographic documentary. While shot in Canada the filmmakers make it convincing on looking like prehistoric Europe with a lot of beautiful imagery. It adds to the authenticity except when the green screen becomes occasionally noticeable.

It does lack that majestic touch that Alejandro González Iñárritu and Mel Gibson did with their work, and the pacing is particularly slow even when the action is happening. What keeps the movie from falling is the bond between Keda and the wolf.  From hunting food, encountering other predators and surviving blistering blizzards; it's an adorable progression that the two of them share.

Like Hidden Figures, Alpha would make for fine viewing in either Junior High and High School to show in a history or science class. I'll probably stick with Isle of Dogs as the better story of a boy-and-his-dog but Alpha is still watchable for any dog lover out there.

Final Verdict: (B)