Alpha and Omega

Being a somewhat curmudgeonly misanthrope, I tend to avoid the cinema if at all possible during school holidays which means that I'm not only miss the crowds of children and families, but also the several films aimed at a younger demographic. In recent years, these have tended to be of the 3-D animated or teenage romance variety but, as I really couldn't care less about most of these, this isn't a great loss unless it happens to be during the six-week period in the summer when there are usually several good films released at the same time.

Alpha and Omega was released in the UK on October 22, the beginning of October half term and, as it was only showing in 3-D (a format that tends to leave me with eyestrain if not a migraine as well) and I didn't fancy braving a multiplex heaving with younger children, I missed it completely at the cinema so I'm able to catch up with it in the comfort and solitude of my own home. As I had no intention of watching it at the cinema, I didn't bother with any reviews so didn't know much about the film's critical reception.

Animated films have covered all variety of animals in films like The Jungle Book, The Lion King and Madagascar but I can't remember any that have dealt solely with wolves. Alpha and Omega changes this as it follows two wolf packs in Jasper National Park in Canada, in particular two wolves: Kate and Humphrey. Kate is an Alpha wolf, groomed for greatness and is one of the daughters of the East pack leader, Tony, whereas Humphrey is an Omega, one of the lower class wolves who are basically they are to have a good time and follow the Alpha wolves. Growing up together as children, they were extremely close but Kate's parents pressure her to stay away from Humphrey as she grows up and, when she comes back from Alpha school, she is supposed to have nothing to do with him.

However, this all changes when two men from a national Park in Idaho drug Kate and Humphrey and transport them hundreds of miles to a brand new location where they are expected to repopulate the park. There, they meet Marcel, a French goose who spends his time playing golf and an English duck called Paddy who acts as Marcel's caddie. As Kate is betrothed to Garth, the son of Winston, the head of the West pack, she wants to return home, do her duty and get away from the ruffian Humphrey and he wants to get back to his friends so he can join them in 'tobogganing' down the hillside in a log and generally having fun.


During the time that they spend together in the park and trying to head north by stealing lifts in the back of vans and on a train, old feelings resurface yet they don't want to admit them to each other as that would destabilise the entire wolf community in Jasper. Unbeknownst to them (and everyone else), Garth has been hanging out with Kate's sister, Lilly, and they are growing to be more than just friends. As predictable animated films go, you know that only the time the end credits roll, Humphrey and Kate will be together as will Garth and Lily, whose love will be accepted and the differences between the two wolf packs will be put to one side so that peace will rein in Jasper.

Computer animated films were once the sole property of Pixar, then DreamWorks got in on the act with the Shrek films and Sony Animation joined the party with Ice Age yet it has always seemed to be that Pixar make the best films as they have only twice failed to win the Best Animated Feature Oscar when Cars lost out to Happy Feet and Monsters Inc. was beaten by Shrek. Anyway, they are back on form with Toy Story 3 which is not only nominated in the Best Animated Feature category, but is also (like Beauty and the Beast) included in the Best Picture category. This was the first time I had come across something By Crest Animation Productions and Lions Gate Family Entertainment and it is a little strange to see the Lions Gate at the beginning as I generally associate them with horror films! In any case, this is the first time that Crest Animation Productions have made anything for wide release and Lions Gate Family Entertainment are similarly inexperienced so Alpha and Omega is really their big test.


I have to say that it is a test that they failed woefully as this should be a film that tells you a great deal about the ins and outs of how wolf packs function and actually takes the subject seriously but it is a horribly lightweight and silly film with an extremely predictable storyline and some quite frankly bizarre characters (the two golf playing birds). There also some moments that stretch the boundaries of plausibility even within an animated framework - it is never explained why Garth's pathetic howling should kill (or render unconscious) birds rather than make them come down and fly around him with joy. You would think that filmmakers would try and learn something from Pixar's success which has moved away from the typical Disney template by not, with only a couple of exceptions, having musical numbers in their films but Alpha and Omega manages to have three during the film which added absolutely nothing.

It is really a shame that great actor like Dennis Hopper will have this as his last film, especially as it ends with the message (in horribly garbled English) "Dedicated in Memory of Dennis Hopper". Maybe that makes sense in America, but anyone who loves the English language will look at that and cringe. 'Dedicated to Dennis Hopper' or 'in memory of Dennis Hopper' both work fine but I'm not quite sure what they were going for with that statement.

The Disc

Extra Features
There is no commentary on the disc which makes me suspect that the distributors have given up on the adult audience and have aimed this squarely at the children's market.

Making of Alpha and Omega (20:58, HD) features contributions from the two directors, producer Richard Rich and a couple of animators who discuss the design process and how the wolf design came about and how to humanise the creatures. It then goes on to the voice acting from the likes of Justin Long, Hayden Panettiere, Danny Glover, Christina Ricci and Dennis Hopper. It shows the directors working with the actors, explaining various things about their characters as all they had to go on was the script and some drawings. The final part looks at the animation and how they used footage of real wolves and the actors (and members of the crew) doing the motions in order to inspire the animators. This is probably the least inspiring and interesting of the three segments which can be watched individually or together as there is a Play All function.

Wolves in the Wild Featurette (13:11, HD) has the directors talking about the research they did into wolves and wolf behaviour with contributions from a wolf biologist and someone who works at California Wolf Center. They talk about the intricacies of wolf paws, their size, how quickly they can run and how far in a day so you have a variety of information in this which I actually found quite interesting with several that are quite amazing, such as a wolf being able to eat 20lbs of meat at one sitting.

Deleted Scene (1:06, HD) which isn't crying out for reinsertion and is just a nighttime scene between Humphrey and Kate in which he falls off a log when trying to impress her.

Animal Fun Facts is a trivia track that provides various facts about wolves and the other animals in the film.

Log Sliding Game is one of those for children who like to see how well they can do at sliding a log down a hillside but didn't interest me at all.

Are you an Alpha or an Omega? Personality Test is one of the more pointless special features I've come across as I don't care whether I am an Alpha or an Omega and hate interactive personality tests.

The Picture
I may seem to be constantly banging on about this, but 3D is pointless, adds nothing to storytelling and is only a gimmick fit for things like Piranha. If further proof were needed, it comes in the form of this Blu-ray of a film which had the tagline "A Pawesome 3D Adventure" yet is being released in 2D, not in a set with a 3D disc for you to enjoy on your brand-new 3D television (if you are one of the very few people who have one).

Anyway, enough about the 3D and onto the animation and picture quality which is a bit of a mixed bag. Firstly, the animation and the designers have decided against a photorealistic approach by making the wolves seem much cuter than they otherwise would be as I imagine that wouldn't make the film a pleasant viewing experience for younger children! Although the design is curious, it works within the confines of the film as, let's face it, you don't find many birds playing golf in real life, do you?!

The film works perfectly well without the 3D element and there aren't any moments where I thought "That was done so it would make it worth the extra money and the glasses" and it functions perfectly well as a 2D film. As you would expect for a brand new film, the animation is extremely good and the animals move well with their fur moving realistically and some of the scenes involving water and grass showcases what can be done with modern animation techniques and computers.

The Sound
The only audio option is a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English track which does an excellent job with the dialogue, score and atmospherics. This uses all six channels so that the dialogue comes across clearly and from different directions depending on where the characters are located and the volume levels are nicely balanced.

There are many scenes which are action-oriented, including the opening one where Humphrey and his friends 'toboggan' down the hillside, sending dirt, twigs and rocks flying. It isn't the most bombastic of soundtracks and there aren't any scenes that will have the floor shaking or neighbours banging on the walls but it is very nicely balanced with good directional sound.

As far as the score goes, it is a fairly uninspiring piece of music by Chris Bacon ('amusingly' credited as Chris P. Bacon) that raises the tempo during chase sequences and goes for a more understated approach during the more tender and heart wrenching scenes.

There are both English and English SDH subtitles should you want them.

Final Thoughts
Alpha and Omega was a box office flop and was a critical failure, just avoiding the sort of mauling that was reserved for things like The Last Airbender, The Bounty Hunter and Furry Vengeance. It is nowhere near as bad as those but it is surprising just how poor it is when you compare it to Toy Story 3, How to Train Your Dragon and Tangled.

With a leaden script, predictable story arc and interchangeable characters, this doesn't really pass as mediocre, has nothing for adults and so I imagine the only audience for this Blu-ray will be the children who enjoyed it at the cinema - I wouldn't recommend it as a 'blind buy' but if you want something to entertain young children during February half term, it may be worth renting this and see how your children respond.