Review: 'Alpha and Omega' is another cliched animation film

Film: Alpha and Omega (U)
Director: Anthony Bell, Ben Gluck
Cast:Danny Glover,Justin Long, Hayden Panettiere, Dennis Hopper, Larry Miller, Chris Carmack
Rating: **

Alpha and Omega is your run-of-the-mill animated caper involving animals. These amimals — wolves — dwell in Jasper Park, Canada. Humphrey (voice of Long) and Kate (Panettiere) (so very likely names for wolves) are on opposite sides of the lupine social spectrum. While the former is riffraff, the latter is, like her parents Winston (Glover) and Eve, an Alpha. The role of the alpha, for which Kate has been primed, is to lead and protect the tribe. They cannot, a point which is made a zillion times in the film, mate with omegas.

 

After many scuffles with the eastern wolf pack, lead by the ageing Tony (Hopper), over limited food supplies, Winston agrees to a marriage pact between their children for the good of both tribes. Kate, the object of Humphrey’s desire, is to marry Tony’s son Garth (Carmack) who is Alpha in every sense. But this super wolf suffers from one inadequacy — his howl, which determines his mating compatibility, is badly wanting.

 

The lovelorn Humphrey and Kate accidentally wind up getting shot by a ranger and, tranquillized, they are relocated to Idaho where they meet two zany golf-loving birds, French-Canadian goose Marcel and duck Paddy, who aid the two. But will they make it back so that Kate’s marriage is solemnised?

 

If you make a conscious choice not to evaluate animated movies, you will be reasonably amused, if at all. If you are dismissive of animated features as formulaic contrivances pandering to juveniles, you can’t count on this film to change your opinion.

 

The film which cannot but be clichéd, apart from the rare chuckle here and there, doesn’t do much for you. With animation that is lacking in certain lushness, it seems unlikely that the film has what it takes to appease audiences (demographics aside) who are accustomed to the fruit of far superior computer animation techniques, if not deeper, more touching or more amusing storytelling.

 

But comparing Alpha and Omega to, say, How to Train Your Dragon or Toy Story 3 would be futile exercise. While watching the film, a similar movie with a great deal of heart, 1995’s Balto, comes to mind. With Alpha and Omega, just another feature in what is appearing to be a boundless sea of 3D computer animated films, being entirely skippable, revisiting Balto may prove to be a better option.