Review Summary: A little uneven, but a surprisingly fresh and authentic character story.
The movie that came to mind while watching Alpha was How to Train Your Dragon. That DreamWorks Animation movie carries a few things in common with this movie. That stands especially true in how our main hero is depicted and a few scenes with him and the wolf trying to gain each other's trust. But, thankfully, it doesn't turn out to be isn't a carbon copy of that movie. Thanks to several smart decisions by the filmmakers and a handful of daunting risks that pay off, Alpha works better than many "boy and his dog" movies that have come before it.
Of course, to start off, the film is absolutely beautiful. There's several moments of vast landscape, with excellent camerawork that truly immerses you in this prehistoric world. Sony wisely released this also in IMAX. I did not see it in this format, but I could see it help escalate the feel of everything here. Despite the beautiful imagery, however, the overall scale and scope of the film is fairly small for a big-budget film. There's not much as far as CGI and green screen effects are concerned. The only things here that stand out as "digital creations" are a few shadow wolves and a saber-tooth tiger fight.
As our lead character Keda, Kodi Smit-McPhee puts his heart and soul into this role. He evokes a convincing persona. Besides McPhee (who's been in a few big films), there's a refreshing lack of distracting starpower in this movie. The acting is impressive across the board. Even "Chuck" the wolf did his job well as "Alpha", a wolf that would eventually become Keda's companion on his journey home.
The biggest risk this film takes is that none of it is spoken in English. We see subtitles throughout, but the dialogue is in a made-up prehistoric dialect. This risk pays off, as it really drives home the authenticity of the picture. Honestly, this could have been a silent movie. This isn't a movie that sells itself on occasionally humorous dialogue. Instead, it sells on the heartfelt and engaging interactions between the characters, which works way more often than it doesn't.
There's also a twist very late in the film that is nearly perfect in its execution. In fact, its done so well that it succeeds in making the audience rethink about the purpose of the film's characters. It also adds a feel-good ending to the overall tale. The ending of Keda and Alpha's journey isn't quite what you expect, and Alpha's overall motivation to stick with Keda is different than what you might would guess.
The costume design and production design add to the film's authentic feel as well. The film also wisely includes some light-hearted moments. While not necessarily humorous, it helps offset the film's scarier and darker moments. Rated PG-13, Alpha does carry moments that may be difficult to watch for some. But, the movie can credit itself to the fact that it isn't always dark and intense.
Now, the film isn't always smooth-paced. There are a few stretches that feel a little elongated (even for a movie that's only 90 minutes without credits). For example, how much time Keda spends in a blizzard feels too long (perhaps too long to justify him staying alive). The film also takes its' time for the main plot to really get cooking. However, this is meant to develop Keda's character and help us understand his rocky relationship with his father. In the meantime, the use of Keda's dreams involving his parents proves to be a solid idea to help motivate him.
Sony clearly had a hard time trying to find confidence in this picture. It was challenging to find a decent release date for it (the film originally was set to open in September of last year before changing dates three times). In the meantime, the studio may not have seen the warm critical reception coming either. But, in an atmosphere where filmmakers take more risks, perhaps there was fear that a prehistoric "boy and his dog" story wouldn't sell here in this day and age.
But, the critics are definitely right on this one. Alpha is more than just about about "mankind discovering man's best friend". This is a harrowing survival tale about a young man's rite of passage and struggle to survive. And it's also a story about how the influence of family and loved ones can motivate us to do incredible, even seemingly impossible things.
Would I call it a classic? Not exactly. Will it be an awards contender? Probably not. But, putting aside the intense and difficult moments, moviegoers are left with a retake on an old story that is genuine, exciting, and even fresh at times.
My Score: 8.1/10
Content Concerns for Family Viewing: Alpha is rated PG-13 for "some intense peril". Truthfully, there's a handful of scenes featuring realistically dangerous moments. For example, Keda is hit by a bull twice (the first time is seen in flashback, we see some blood on his face) and then run off the edge of a cliff (he falls quite a ways and then knocks himself out on a ledge, others believe he's dead). A buzzard comes around and bites his lip. Wolves snap at Keda, and one bites onto his foot (Keda stabs him with a spear). We hear someone (off-screen) kill a wild boar. Keda and Alpha kill a rabbit each. Alpha is attacked by a saber-tooth tiger (we see them fight and Keda hits it with an arrow to kill it). Hyenas nearly chase down the heroes. Keda coughs up blood a few times from the extreme cold. We see a native frozen to death (with his eyes shut). Someone slices their finger on an arrowhead. Animals plunge down a cliff. We see animal corpses on the ground (and a dead animal sliced open with no gore showing at the camera). Characters are beaten up as an initiation for joining a hunting group.
Besides that, Keda is seen in a loincloth underwear in a couple of scenes. A woman is shown as a shaman in one quick scene dumping a powder into a fire. Ancestors are mentioned a handful of times as spiritual guidance for the characters. People are marked with a red, blood-like substance as a symbol of significance. Characters eat maggots, worms and ants at times. The tribe smears bison excrement on themselves at one point to prepare to hunt (perhaps to mask their own scent). Characters vomit a couple of times.
