Alpha

Alpha takes place twenty thousand years ago in Europe. It is the story of a young man that goes out on his first buffalo hunt only to become stranded and injured. He sets out on his way home and comes across a wolf pack intent on making him dinner. A battle ensues and he leaves the alpha of the pack injured and unable to return home. Unable to kill the wolf himself, the man decides to help it heal and they soon become a pack of their own on a mission to find home.

This movie wasn't entirely what I expected it to be. After seeing the movie preview for what feels like forever, the anticipation kept building and I was looking for a showstopper. I would rate this movie a 6.5/10, which is pretty in-line with other ratings. IMDb gives this film a 7/10 and Rotten Tomatoes has it at a 79% audience score.

My biggest disappointment was that I had to read the whole movie. It's not in English. You didn't know that either did you? Go watch that preview one more time and notice how there's not a single word in it. Yep, I missed that too. There isn't a whole lot of talking in the movie anyway (it's a wolf and a boy, they don't have much to say), but the little that there is, had to be read from subtitles. I normally don't enjoy reading my movies; this one is an exception. I thought some of it was comical the way he would talk to the wolf as if it knew what he was saying. His version of training a dog isn't the same as mine, but it was interesting to watch all the same.

With a production budget of $51 million, this movie is on the lower end for money to use on the special effects. For example, Bumblebee (the new Transformers movie coming out on Christmas), has a production budget of $102 million. Because of this small budget, the CGI is, well...let's be honest...it sucks. The buffalo looked like a puppet in front of a horrible green screen. Luckily, Alpha is played by a real wolf named Chuck. He is a Czech wolfdog which, according to MoviePaws.com, is a mix between wolves and German Shepherds. He is quite the handsome wolfdog, if I say so myself.

Photo courtesy of http://www.movie-trailers-blaze.com/alpha-official-trailer-2-2018-adventure-movie-hd-2/

If you're looking for a feel-good movie, this one is for you. It seems like a long movie, with some slow parts, but it's definitely worth it if you like wolves and movies about finding family in unbelievable places. It's an uplifting film that makes you feel like you should never give up because someone is always going to be there to help you succeed. Plus Chuck is a cutie, and he could be a real star one day. Go see his first performance so someday you can say, "I remember when he first started..."