Alpha -- The Movie

Hubby, RK and I went to the movie theater Friday night. We saw Alpha. Internet Movie Database (IMDb) describes the movie like this:

In the prehistoric past, a young man struggles to return home after being separated from his tribe during a buffalo hunt and finds a similarly lost wolf companion to start a friendship that would change humanity.

So you KNOW I had to see it! But ticket prices are ridiculous these days. I hate spending that much money on an unknown movie. What if it stinks?! (Hooray for Redbox!) I'm going to give you my honest opinion -- good, bad and ugly -- and you can decide if you want to see this one.

The Good:

• The cinematography is breathtaking. That alone was worth seeing it on the big screen.
• The emotions feel real -- fear, angst, love, loss. Too often emotions fall flat for me, especially in dog movies.
• The story is predictable but still entertaining.
• The film's cadence isn't traditional Hollywood style, which I found refreshing.

The Bad:

• It's all subtitles. Fortunately, there's not a lot of dialog and the emoting is good enough that non-readers could probably get the gist.
• Some scenes are intense and may be too scary for young children.
• The trailer spoils the "twist" at the end!

The Ugly:

• The language is obviously made up, so why the subtitles?
• Realistically, the protagonist would have died from hypothermia a half dozen times. Kids, don't try this at home.
• A real wolf -- or even my German shepherd -- would have bitten the main character. Often. And hard.

← I have this shirt and I wore it to the movie. Without giving too much away, I was not disappointed. *hint, hint* I bought my tickets a week out so I had great seats. (This theater has assigned seating.) I enjoyed the movie, but would have liked it better at matinee prices.

WARNING, SOAP BOX TIME: I'm glad I went opening weekend if for no other reason than to send a message to Hollywood that this is the kind of movie I want to see produced. Sadly, money talks. And I'm so turned off by most of what's out there. Now that I think about it, Alpha is the first non Harry Potter, Star Wars or Marvel superhero movie I've seen in the theater since The Martian three years. (BTW, that was an excellent movie.)

Anyway, whether you go to the theater or wait for Redbox, Alpha is worth seeing. Later, -- K