Movie Monday: ALPHA

There's not a movie I can think of this year that I was more anticipating than ALPHA.

I was spellbound by the trailer and have been counting down to its release. And I wasn't disappointed! It's a beautiful movie. Such gorgeous cinematography! I really felt like I was living in prehistoric Europe.

The story centers on a boy who earns his place on the big hunting trip. Only he's a reluctant participant -- perhaps because even though he's the chief's son, he's more of a tenderheart than a warrior.

Which is why we root for him so hard when the most awful thing that can possibly happen to him really does happen. What follows is a survival, coming of age story. And by the end, the movie has done what you want every great story to do: it moves beyond the very personal journey of a boy in a harsh environment -- the last scene shows how this boy's adventures just may have created a new world in which humans and wolves co-exist in the same pack.

I mean, what a great thing to imagine: the beginning of man's relationship with dogs? It's brilliant really. And even though the movie felt a little expected in the last half, I still really loved it. Its beauty rivals one of my all-time favorites, which is also a survival and friendship-between-human-and-beast story: THE BLACK STALLION.

I hope you'll go see ALPHA!