Alpha is a good movie.
Who's a good movie?
Alpha!
Alpha deserves a cookie. Yes it does.
A movie set in the last ice age that captures the natural danger of the harsh environment, and doesn't rely on whipping out Atlantean Pyramids in the final act? Directed by 1/2 the sibling team that brought From Hell to life? An adventure film whose plot and conflict tie directly into my previous article?
Novice hunter Keda (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is the son of Tau, a prehistoric chieftan 20,000 years into Europe's past. Separated and left for dead in a harsh wilderness, Keda must wend his way back to civilization with the aid of an unlikely ally, forging a friendship between man & beast that would last for millennia.
And Albert Hughes brings the late stone age to vivid life, portraying the final ice age in action & vivid cinematography. He even managed to unf*** the super-slow-mo "warp" effect introduced in 300 and ruined by Watchmen, which is quite a feat in itself. Alpha retains an intensity while reducing the scale of participants, making it a refreshing sorbet between Disney's big-budget space battle clusterf___s. (Or worse, Sony's attempts to rival Disney in the superhero/sff big battle big budget clusterf___s.) Alpha earns the right to be watched in 3D in cinemas, so go out to see it ASAP. You'll want the big screen in the middle of the summer.
With this much snow, I can understand why they bumped it back to summer release. Nobody wants to see an Ice Age, then have to walk out to scrape their car in the parking lot.
But this isn't "Movie Reviews Alpha", it's "Heroism Reviews Alpha" so let's talk about the heroics. Oddly enough the first story I can compare this to is The Hobbit, in a very literal There and back Again-style quest. Tribe goes out for food, one is separated, returns with the One Woof of Power. That archtypal adventure in which enlightenment is brought back to the people by someone who must venture out and suffer many trials before his return.
Even if that isn't exactly how it happened. Scientists now theorize that dogs may have domesticated themselves by hanging out around human encampments for scraps and gradually being accepted into the pack of the strange, upright chattering monkeys.
Tau is a harsh father. In an early scene, he is introduced first inspecting the flint blades made by five prospective youths, one being Keda. Only two of the five are found worthy in their craftsmanship to be allowed on the hunt, and as a welcome, the youths are beaten by the others in a deliberate invocation of a gang-initiation. But Tau is preparing the youths for a harsh world, a voyage of many days between the stars and stone markers, and though man may be the most advanced predator, the ancient apex predators aren't dying lying down. It's a Europe of Hyenas, Wooly Rhinos, Mammmoths, and Sabertooth Cats.
And Keda, through his trials, returns with a proverbial "fire", the first domesticated animal. A wolf that he forms an uneasy allliance with. They bond, they hunt, they rely on each other's strength to survive, and what can also be the subject of potentially dry documentary is instead the subject of artistic retelling.
And this freindship has long been a great symbol of heros. Even arguably canonical Super & Bat-Dogs have been introduced in comics of old due to the sheer popularity of the animal & their heroic association. White Fang, Rin Tin Tin, Old Yeller. "Based on a True Story" tales like that of Meagan Leavey and Rex have been a staple of films for decades. YouTube LEOs routinely discuss their Furry Missile colleagues.
"Kick the Dog" is a standard villain trope that is often invoked literally. That companionship with dogs and abuse thereof are stock symbols of heroism & villainy is that deeply seated tells you of the lasting bond between man and beast.
And perhaps dog ownership (over say, cats, or sugar gliders) is rightly indicitive of those virtues. Think about people who complain about dogs. That "They're too much work". Those people are really complaining that dogs require Mastery & Leadership in their owners. A commitment to go for those daily walks that are both play and a perimiter check of The Pack's territory.
Finding our way towards domesticating the canine wasn't just a leap forward in our mastery over the wilderness. That bond with the wild represented a great leap forward in our mastery of ourselves and the instilling of virtue, and no other animal has facilitated bringing that to the fore.
