Review of Alpha and Omega (2010) by Jim W — 18 Jan 2011

Usually, when I see that the critics rate an animated movie badly, I have to see it for myself. And lately (this was the case with Despicable Me also), the critics can ONCE AGAIN shove it because howling is now 'music to my ears' after seeing this movie! First of all, I was thinking to myself, "How can this movie get bad reviews after who they got to voice the characters?" Justin Long, Hayden Panetierre, the late great Dennis Hopper, Danny Glover, and Christina Ricci? That's a great cast! And whoever says the animation is off.

..I don't know what they are seeing, because to me both that and the way the scenery was portrayed are INTENSE and in your face. *SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT* We are immediately introduced to the main characters, Humphrey, a fun-loving Omega wolf, and Kate, an Alpha in training.

They are nothing more than friends who occasionally see each other, but cannot mate because it's just not pack law for an Alpha and Omega to do so. But another problem is brewing in the Jasper Valley.

..the Eastern End wolves are wanting all the food (caribou) for themselves, and they keep ambushing the Western side for it. The Omegas make a spirited effort to save the Alphas in one instance, but Kate is beating herself up over failing on her first hunt.

Kate is to be married to Garth, the Alpha leader of the Eastern end, in a move that will ultimately unite the packs. And let me just say - when you watch their Moonlight Howl, I immediately thought that it was like their Thriller.

But I digress - when Kate and Humphrey are captured by park rangers and shipped off to Idaho, everything changes. The duo run into a French golfing goose and his high-strung duck caddy, who make numerous attempts to try and get them back home, but something always gets in their way - Humphrey craving food, dangerous bears, the works.

But with Kate gone, it leads to conflict in Jasper, as the Eastern end gives the Western end by the next full moon to find her and have the marriage, or else they will fight for the valley. Kate's sister, Lily, agrees to show Garth around in the meantime.

But this leads to even more developments, as those two begin to get closer while the adventure between Kate and Humphrey simply strengthens their relationship. Finally, we reach the EPIC - and I do mean EPIC - finish.

After Lily finally teaches Garth how to howl (because before, all he did was make birds drop from the sky), the two howl together at the full moon, and Kate finally builds up the courage to howl with Humphrey on a train back to Jasper.

But the duo finally see the fight between West and East ready to begin - so Kate reunites with her family...and makes the announcement that she's marrying Garth to unite the packs? I'M THINKING, "WHAT THE HECK?" You just had this awesome adventure with Humphrey - you even HOWLED with the wolf - and yet you're giving him the cold shoulder? That's not very Alpha like! This also hurts Lily's heart, because she feels that she's the better fit for Garth than her sister.

As I predict, Humphrey knows that since he'll never have a shot with Kate, he's going back to the train and be a "fun-loving, lone wolf". So as the big day finally comes, Kate and Garth are just about to make it official.

..but Kate says "I can't." WHOA - and then says she fell in love with an Omega! This shocks the pack, but then Garth says the same thing, talking about Lily! This clearly upsets the Eastern end, so the battle which was thought to have been held off is BACK ON AGAIN! Everybody's going at each other, when the caribou hear and then it's a STAMPEDE, which reunites everyone again to run and hide for their lives.

Humphrey, meanwhile, is still dashing for the train when he crosses paths with Kate and she tells him that they have to help everyone. The two find a log (trust me, you'll figure out the log sliding in the first few minutes of the film) and catch up with everyone.

Just when it looks like they're all in the clear, Kate gets blindsided and goes down. But Humphrey begins to howl, and then they all howl together...and WHAT HAPPENS but Kate wakes up. You really wouldn't think an animated film would end like that, right? THE POWER OF THE HOWL, ain't it great? In the end, the packs are united, and the couples actually do end up together, as we get a great shot at the end of Kate and Humphrey howling together.

This movie has it all - action, excitement, a great cast, and a great story all rolled into one. "Alpha and Omega", for me, made me want to HOWL FOR MORE!!!