Great timing. All those blubbering millennials who watched Homeward Bound when they were 10 are all growed up now. Those kids now have kids of their own, and want their kids to find their Shadow. If Heart of the Beast has any say in the matter, their might be a run on German Shepherds, though I should warn the ‘rents, do NOT take little kids to this one: it’ll traumatize them.
I dare say Heart of the Beast is a teenage plus movie? That’s because retired military man James (Brad Pitt) is looking to live out the rest of his days in peace, with his trusted 3 legged combat dog Odin (played wonderfully by Uber, Seeka, Ryker, and Hondo) who suffers from PTSD. Yeah, that’s gonna put tears in your eyes immediately. Unfortunately, that retirement wallops James, whose heart condition hits when he’s in the plane. He crashes deep in the Alaskan wilderness, and would happily die in peace himself there…but decides instead to walk the 50+ miles to the nearest road to give his trusted Odin a good home.
David Ayer doesn’t overthink Heart of the Beast. What’s on the box is exactly what we’re eating. The opening 30 minutes is pure New Zealand-as-Alaska bliss, going on vacation with Brad Pitt and Odin with a flyby JK Simmons appearance just to mix things up a bit. Ayer gives us drone heaven, showcasing the complete grandeur and scale of the wilderness we’re about to be stuck in. And, quickly, the dual empathetic leads of our tale. The minute Odin wakes up in a panic in the middle of the night with that prosthetic leg on, even non dog owners like me can’t compete with the desire for that dog to feel as much happiness as possible forevermore. James knows it too, and lives his life hoping for the same thing with also the same life experiences swirling in his head.
Time for a plane crash, a quick look at the map, and we’re off. All Ayer has to do is try to practically make an adventure film that looks as real as possible. Some of the too dangerous scenes have to use bad CGI, but those moments are few and quickly forgotten. Ayer takes mostly the wise approach of more majestic tracking shots of his dynamic duo. Then followed by sudden brushes with danger and terror. There’s a nighttime encounter with a natural predator that’s as scary as any horror movie I’ve seen this year, probably the highlight of the film. Throw in a ticking ticker, and you have the tearjerking recipe Heart of the Beast wants you feel. Pitt is perfectly solid in this, but Odin the dog turns in another stellar dog performance, now making it a thing that there’s at least 1 great pet performance per year hopefully for years to come. The big emotional moment lands because we care, and that’s all that matters.
Then again, anyone who doesn’t care about a sterling combat dog with PTSD and a metal leg can go straight to hell. Heart of the Beast believes in a world of heroes like James. Oh, and pets not just reliable companions. They are as heroic as their humans, usually even moreso, with their impossible unconditional love eternal.