Review by John M. Delia, Jr.
20,000 years ago in Europe during the Upper Paleolithic period, life was very hard. It wasn’t easy to capture your food source. Every animal had its way to defend itself and for man, technique and strategy was very important if you wanted to be one of the survivors of the hunt.
Keda (Kodi Smit-McPhee) becomes a new warrior and earns his place to be part of the sacred hunt to feed the tribe. Becoming a new hunter comes with many responsibilities that includes learning the customs and rituals of the clan. His father Tau (Johannes Haukur Johannesson), the chief, is preparing Keda for the long journey and teaching him how to read the paths left by the ancestors to get to the hunting grounds. The tradition is to hunt pre-historic Steppe bison that have very long horns and take a careful approach to lure these dangerous beasts to their death.
Keda’s mother, Rho (Natassia Malthe) is very concerned about sending her only son on this dangerous adventure. For their people it is very hard surviving this treacherous environment and the heat and cold can be hard enough for most. But with the lack of food, travelling long distances, and fighting many large and dangerous beasts makes Rho very worried for her son.
When Keda finds himself alone, he faces an impossible journey trying to make it back home. He must find a way to endure his surroundings, including finding a most unlikely ally to be his friend. Finding an injured wolf he names Alpha (Chuck), they must both begin to understand each other, find a way to work together, and travel a long distance through many dangerous places. They must both use their hunting skills by helping each other track and capture their food source. You can argue who saved who, but actually by saving each other they create a wonderful friendship. Man has found a friend that will stand the test of time and become the world’s first dog.
Director and writer Albert Hughes puts together a wonderful tale about how hard it is to stay alive during a period where living is near impossible. He presents this storyline very well and uses its limited options to show how hard life was. Using the amazing scenery as one of the biggest tools to bring this world to life, along with some fantastic imagery acting to explain everything else, Albert brings you into a place full of danger, risks at every turn, and shows a strong will to survive.
This well directed film includes very little dialogue, many subtitles, and lots of silence. But Albert goes a long way to present this tale of how dog and man became friends.
Final Comment: I based my grade on the brilliant but detailed storyline that included incredible panoramic scenery along with some amazing action scenes and also incorporated very little dialog arranged in subtitles. (3 out of 5 Stars)
Additional Film Information
Cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Natassia Malthe, Leonor Varela, Johannes Haukur Johannesson, Jens Hulten, and Chuck.
Directed and written by: Albert Hughes
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Family
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some intense peril.
Running Time: 1 hour and 36 minutes
Release Date:Â August 17, 2018
Distributed By: Columbia Pictures Corporation and Sony Pictures.
Released In: IMAX, 3D, Dolby Digital, and Standard.