Alpha Review: It’s a YES From Me, Dog

There is a long history of dog-related movies doing well at the box office: Turner & Hooch, Marley & Me, A Dog’s Purpose, John Wick (okay, that one might be a stretch). The point is that for people that love man’s best friend, an origin story is right up their alley. Alpha delivers that story, but it is equal parts a tale of family and survival.

From the action-packed opening sequence, you’re either excited or disappointed to learn that Alpha is going to deliver more than you were expecting. It follows a young man named Keda (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who is going on his first buffalo hunt and looking to make his father proud. His father Tau (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson) happens to be the leader of their group, so no pressure there.

One pissed off buffalo decides he has had enough during the hunt and forces Keda over the edge of a cliff seemingly to his death. One could argue that not much effort went into confirming his “death” despite a convincing portrayal of a grieving father by Jóhannesson.

Of course, he survives his injuries and, through a series of miracles, manages to heal up much faster than DiCaprio in The Revenant. Now he faces the long journey back home as winter sets in. If he wants to make it back alive, he is going to need some help from you know who.

Director Albert Hughes has stepped out on his own to make Alpha, after previously teaming with his brother Allen on films such as The Book of Eli, Dead Presidents and Menace II Society. This solo project has not been without its share of complications. Its release was delayed over a year. Then there was the PETA-called boycott of the film due to real bison that were slaughtered in its making. Despite all of that, the biggest success might be that Sony smartly pushed the “first dog” narrative in its trailers, when the wolf later named Alpha doesn’t appear until halfway into its 96-minute runtime.

I have heard some gripes that the first half of the movie moves too slowly, which I’m confident is related to that part of the film being the portion that doesn’t feature Alpha. So, if you are strictly looking for a dog-centric movie, you may be barking up the wrong tree here. (So hard to choose just one dog idiom to use).

The first half does showcase some amazing establishing shots of this film’s version of what Europe looked like 20,000 years ago, complete with Northern Lights. Apparently, it is primarily a CGI assisted Alberta, Canada, but it looks beautiful and continues up until a blizzard sets in. I should also warn that all of the dialogue is subtitles over a made up language which some viewers may not like, but I appreciate the authentic feel of it.

The whole first half of the film paints a narrative that Keda may be too soft to live in a world where life must be earned. Lucky for him, taking a fall off a cliff jars his inner Bear Grylls and he is soon setting broken bones, drinking dirty water, and eating worms like a pro. The film has a much darker and more serious tone prior to the introduction of Alpha, as its lighter moments are all related to their relationship forming. In fact, the most jarring scene of the entire movie sees a member of the hunting party taken out by a saber-toothed tiger before he can get in a line of dialogue.

Don’t worry, though, dog lovers, once the title character Alpha makes her appearance, they are able to squeeze in tons of firsts. The first time begging for food, first tug-of-war match, game of fetch and more. Once trust is established between the pair, they go about saving one another, again and again as they brave the elements to return to Keda’s family. I counted six collective aww’s let out by the audience in total. I’m sure I am in the majority when I say that I was far more concerned about her surviving than Keda, based on the way all those previous dog-related films mentioned went (sorry for the spoiler), and in that regard, I was very invested throughout their journey.

Truthfully, all it really takes to satisfy your target audience when making a dog movie is a few adorable looks and whimpers. There is a reason why cute dog videos are some of the most popular on social media. Clearly, Alpha was meant to show how our present-day love of dogs all began, and blend that together with themes of survival, coming-of-age, and family to make it more than just a cute dog movie. Ultimately, I think it succeeded.

Overall Rating: 7/10

-Ben Murchison