Alpha and Omega tells the story of two wolves, Humphrey (Justin Long) and Kate (Hayden Panettiere) living in Canada’s Jasper National Park. Humphrey is in love with Kate, but pack law forbids them being mates as she is an Alpha Wolf, trained to be a leader in the pack, and he is just a lowly Omega, destined just just be another follower and content in being so. With food growing scarce, two tribes are set to merge with Kate being betrothed to Garth (Chris Carmack), the Alpha in a rival pack, a marriage that will calm the growing aggression between the two groups. Kate is not happy with the arrangement but is willing to go through with the marriage to avoid an outright conflict. Unfortunately, she and Humphrey end up captured by a wildlife relocation group and transplanted in Idaho. With Kate missing, tensions rise amongst the wolves packs with Garth’s pack giving Kate’s until the next full moon to produce her or it’ll be all out war.
Kate and Humphrey, now in Idaho, set out to return to their home in Canada through various means and misadventures, determined to prevent the war. They are aided in this adventure by two birds played by Larry Miller and Eric Price who, through various means, know several different ways this journey can be accomplished. Humphrey is unhappy, but loves Kate enough to help her get back, even though it’ll mean losing her to another wolf. Meanwhile, back in Canada, Garth has started falling for Kate’s younger sister, Lilly (Christina Ricci), an Omega who is shy and doesn’t see herself as worthy of him. The two have instant chemistry, though, and Garth decides he must fight to break with pack laws if he is to marry the one of his choosing. Neither side’s parents, however, are willing to budge from their position that an Alpha can only marry another Alpha and, with Kate missing, they prepare for war.
Writer Steve Moore originally conceived of this film as a serious look at caste systems and arranged marriages. It had a darker tone as well as more action and an intensity aimed more towards teens than younger children. Lionsgate stepped in and insisted it be retooled to aim for much younger audiences and Steve was forced to rewrite most of the script with that in mind. This altering of the script left a finished film with a feeling of shallowness. There are ideas in here that could have germinated into a compelling, if unoriginal, drama. Instead it has surface level characters and a plot that is almost completely predictable within the first couple of minutes.
As an animated film aimed for toddlers Alpha and Omega is fine. There is nothing too egregious about it. It will entertain the kids for about eighty-five minutes while the adults can go about their day. As a family film it doesn’t hold up, though. This is not the type of film that most adults will find worth their time to sit down and watch. The story is too thin and the action is too juvenile. On top of all that it is poorly animated, even for a film from 2010. Pixar and Dreamworks, even Sony Animation, were releasing animated films that looked better than this does. It’s not an ugly film but it feels rushed and incomplete with characters occasionally bleeding through the environmental elements when they should be interacting with them instead. This is especially noticeable when snow is on screen.
The voice actors range from serviceable to bland. Hayden comes across best and it’s obvious she has some experience doing these types of films. She had previously voiced characters in A Bugs Life, Dinosaur and a Scooby-Doo animated film and is obviously comfortable behind the microphone. Justin Long, however, is not good here. His voice acting is stilted and rarely expresses any real emotions. This is not his comfort zone and it shows every single time his character speaks. Fortunately this is broken up by some memorable scenes involving the two birds, Marcel and Paddy, who provide the bulk of the comic relief. Their scenes are too brief but stand out as the highlights of the show. Christina Ricci receives above the title billing as the shy sister Lilly but really only has a couple of lines of dialogue total. She’s fine here but is so underused that it fails to make an impression either way. Rounding out the cast are Dennis Hopper, in his final role, and Danny Glover as the rivaling pack leaders. Neither stands out as anything memorable.
This is a forgettable film all around but the little ones must have loved it as it got seven direct-to-video sequels. Like The Land Before Time series, Lionsgate saw a cash cow and cranked these films out regularly and people bought them enough to justify more. Watching this first movie it is clear that there are ways to continue this story like The Land Before Timedid. It doesn’t demand that the story continue but does pave the way for many cheaply made animated followups. As a stand alone film, this works on a very basic level and for that it succeeds. It’s not a great film, not even a very good one. But for the youngest of the kids in the household it’ll entertain them. That’s what Lionsgate was aiming for and that’s what they got.
Release Date: September 17, 2010
Running Time: 88 Minutes
Rated PG
Starring: Justin Long, Hayden Panettiere, Dennis Hopper, Danny Glover and Christina Ricci
Directed By: Anthony Bell and Ben Gluck
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