Review: The Dog Stars

Image courtesy of 20th Century Studios.

Reviews of his latest film, “The Dog Stars,” have noted that director Ridley Scott’s recent output has not been his strongest.

While I’d agree that “Gladiator II” was one of his lesser efforts – sharks in the Colosseum, really? – I found “The Last Duel” to be pretty gripping and thought “Napoleon” was decent as well.

“The Dog Stars” is, admittedly, not one of his strongest films, but it’s a little better than some of the reviews you’ve read likely suggest. The film is yet another story about survivors in a postapocalyptic setting – this time, it’s only nine years in the future after a disease has ravaged the world.

Hig (Jacob Elordi) is a soft-spoken man who flies a small plane with his dog on reconnaissance, looking for resources and keeping an eye out for potential dangers, while Bangley (Josh Brolin) is a tough former military guy who sits with a gun in the guard tower watching over the large property that the two share.

There’s little information as to how these two men paired up, but we learn that Hig’s wife died from the disease. Hig likes to explore and occasionally, much to Bangley’s chagrin, drops off food and other supplies to a Mennonite community located in an isolated spot in the mountains. Bangley, on the other hand, seems fine being disconnected from the world, other than the marauders who occasionally attempt to enter the property and are promptly gunned down.

An attack from a group of marauders one day leads Hig to try his luck elsewhere and he sets out in his plane, which stalls and drops him off near a farm where a surly farmer, Pops (Guy Pearce), and his daughter, Cima (Margaret Qualley), live. At first, Pops doesn’t trust Hig, but Cima quickly takes to him and helps him to restore his plane.

Without giving away too much more about the plot, suffice it to say that these new friends accompany Hig on his travels, while Bangley attempts to fend off a massive number of marauders that are part of a roving gang. The film has action sequences, but often plays more as a somber story about loneliness at the end of the world.

Some of it works pretty well. There’s a nice camaraderie between Hig and Bangley, and the scenes between Elordi, Pearce, and Qualley are some of the picture’s best. It’s a film with some nice touches – for example, when Pops uses a story involving blueberry pancakes to gain the trust of a new group of people.

Then again, there are also some misses – namely, an extended sequence during which Hig, Pops, and Cima find themselves in Grand Junction, Colorado, where a utopian-seeming society has been set up and is led by Allison Janney feels almost cartoonish compared to the rest of the film’s solemn vibe.

All in all, this is not one of Scott’s best films, but it has its moments and throughout I was curious to see where the character’s journeys would take them. It has a solid cast and some beautiful cinematography. Even if it doesn’t all completely come together, it’s better than some reviews of the film might lead you to believe.