By: Jamie Steinberg
There are plenty of shows and films that feature police dogs, but we don’t often get to see combat dogs at work. In Heart of the Beast, we meet Odin (played by dog Uber), a German Shepherd who serves as the best friend of Special Forces officer James Belmont (Brad Pitt). Having put his soldier days behind him, Belmont travels to a remote part of Alaska where the wilderness where PTSD and physical wounds plague both our heroes. Director David Ayer delivers a heartfelt tale of man and dog on a personal mission to put the past behind them and heal from lingering wounds.
Former Special Forces officer James Belmont and his canine companion Odin (often called “Odie”) head into the Alaskan wilderness after retirement. Both are tormented by injuries suffered while on deployment in the Middle East as Odin lost a leg and Belmont has PTSD. Hoping to heal from these scars, Belmont lands his plane near a river and pitches a tent to begin a camping trip. Things go awry when supplies are lost and Belmont and pup decide to avoid bad weather by hopping back in their plane. Unfortunately, Belmont suffers a heart attack and then later on breaks his arm, requiring Odie to lend a paw to craft a tourniquet. The only way out of this tumultuous trip seems to be a road which would require Belmont and Odie to travel along a perilous tree bridge that hangs above fierce water rapids.
Belmont’s adventures sound like a lot of bad luck, but they do invest audiences in their fates. Viewers’ complications come in the form of the CGI work used to create the wild animals that threaten our brave duo. Anyone who has seen The Revenant would expect a higher grade of on-screen generated imagery and with amount of accolades director Ayer has received in his career he could have upgraded the effects needed. However, props go out to Pitt and Uber who truly appear to have created the deep bond established by soldiers who have served in the trenches of war together.
Action-packed, Heart of the Beast keeps viewers’ hearts racing. Pitt and Uber will keep your attention and have you hoping that with the odds stacked against them these two survive and find a way out of the wilderness (as close to intact as possible).