Heart of the Beast Review: Brad Pitt and a Dog Take on the Alaskan Wilderness

Brad Pitt and a combat dog struggle to survive after a plane crash in Alaska.

Putting Brad Pitt, a combat dog and the Alaskan wilderness together after a plane crash is a pretty basic yet interesting setup, but the question is whether the movie can turn that into something more than another man-and-dog survival story.

For the most part though, it does a decent job, with enough tension, action and emotion here to keep it moving, even if it is nothing really that new.

Plot

After a harrowing plane crash, Special Forces veteran James Belmont and his combat dog, Odin, find themselves stranded deep in the Alaskan wilderness. Together, they are forced into a brutal fight for survival against the elements.

Good Points

• Brad Pitt is a strong lead as always.

• The dog, Odin

• The Alaskan wilderness looks excellent

• The survival elements are entertaining

• The film knows what it is

Bad Points

• The basic survival story isn’t particularly original

• A lot of the emotional beats are predictable

• Some of the character material feels a bit too formulaic

• 

My Thoughts on Heart of the Beast

Brad Pitt and the Dog

Obviously, the biggest selling point here is Brad Pitt, and what could have felt like a generic straight to streaming survival thriller manages to feel slightly more, mainly thanks to Mr Pitt, where the film gives him plenty of opportunity to look suitably battered and exhausted.

But the dog is arguably just as important, because Odin gives the movie something that a standard survival film doesn’t have, and the relationship between the two is where a lot of the emotional weight of the film comes from, and thankfully the film doesn’t completely turn the dog into a cute sidekick designed purely to manipulate you, as there is a genuine sense that the two really do depend on each other.

The Wilderness Looks Great

The Alaskan setting is beautiful to look at, and makes me want to visit there one day, a location that just screams naturally cinematic- huge stretches of wilderness, freezing conditions and the sense that you’re miles away from any real help, which really helps to give the movie a decent atmosphere without needing to manufacture everything.

There are also some good shots that make the characters look incredibly small compared with the environment around them.

The Survival Stuff Is Good, But The Film Isn’t Anything New

The actual survival side of Heart of the Beast is reasonably entertaining, with enough physical hardship and danger to keep things moving along, and a lot of the better material here actually comes from just watching the characters deal with the environment.

It isn’t particularly revolutionary, though, because we’ve seen plenty of survival movies where the environment is basically the main antagonist, and Heart of the Beast copies the formula a lot, but the difference here I would say is that the combination of Pitt, the dog and the Alaskan setting gives it enough to work with.

Some of the more dramatic moments are also a little obvious, but that comes with the territory, and to be fair, the film doesn’t seem desperate to be something it isn’t.

The action sequences as well aren’t necessarily the most inventive I’ve seen, but they at least gave the film some much-needed bursts of energy at the right time, and Pitt handles the physical side of things well enough.

You will also no doubt see where a lot of the emotional beats are going before the film lets you know, and some of the character material feels like it has been pulled straight from the survival movie handbook.

Final Verdict

I thought it was a solid enough film, that got a lot out of little, but it’s not particularly original, but it’s the sort of film where you pretty much know what you’re getting, and that’s not necessarily always a bad thing.

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