NEW YORK (OSV News) — “The Dog Stars” (20th Century) tries to overcome its ostensible status as a post-apocalyptic shoot ’em up by exploring the need for a supportive and compassionate spirit of community in the wake of a worldwide flu pandemic. But the effort proves less than successful.
In fact, this adaptation of Peter Heller’s 2012 novel — directed by Ridley Scott from a script by Mark L. Smith — does a much better job of providing moviegoers with spectacle than with sentiment. That’s in large part due to its setting on the picturesque Front Range of the Rocky Mountains.
The splendor of the landscape is more than a little marred, according to the film’s plot, by the menacing presence of roving feral scavengers called “Reapers.” Much like the zombies of the “28 Days” franchise, Reapers have only one intent — to kill and destroy, mostly by night.
Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for their potential victims, Reapers are also easy targets for rifle fire. This fact gives the story a high splatter factor.
The year is 2035, a decade after the global plague. Hig (Jacob Elordi), a skilled mechanic with a beat-up Cessna airplane, shares an abandoned airport hangar in Erie, Colorado, with Bangley (Josh Brolin), a grizzled survivalist with a melancholy outlook and a talent for improvising ammunition.
Still-grieving Hig lost his beloved wife, who was pregnant, to the epidemic. He finds at least some comfort, however, in the companionship of Jasper, his aging Belgian Malinois.
Hig raids the ruins of Denver in search of supplies, both for himself and for a nearby Mennonite family. These expeditions risk further exposure to disease. But Hig cherishes the opportunity for interaction with other people they provide.
When Hig’s aircraft malfunctions and he is forced to land in a pasture, he comes across the homestead of suspiciously minded ex-Navy Seal Pops (Guy Pearce) and Pops’ gentle widowed daughter, Cima (Margaret Qualley).
Together, they get Hig’s plane repaired and — guided by a radio signal — the trio flies to Grand Junction, where a form of civilization supposedly exists.
This journey, alas, only gets them into a worse fix from which they’ll have to extricate themselves using automatic weapons and grenades. Will Hig finally give into the temptation to despair amid the hellish environment in which he’s forced to live?
Smith’s screenplay attempts to limn hopelessness offset by intimacy. But the result is neither convincing nor compelling.
The film contains sometimes gory gun violence, a couple of profanities and pervasive rough language. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
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