Can Ridley Scott make a comeback in this post apocalyptic thriller?

Ridley Scott has been responsible for helming such greats as Blade Runner, Alien and Gladiator among many others. Over recent years, his work has seen a dramatic downturn in quality and I’m not too sure his career will ever truly recover. The Dog Stars is a typical example of this downturn.

The Dog Stars is a post-apocalyptic story about a pilot named Hig (played by Jacob Elordi) who lives in an abandoned Colorado hangar with his dog Jasper and a gun-obsessed survivalist named Bangley (Josh Brolin).

The story is set slightly in the future in 2035, nine years after a virus outbreak wiped out most of humanity. Hig (Jacob Elordi) and his rough neighbor Bangley (Josh Brolin) protect their small airport base together and Hig flies surveillance in his 1956 Cessna, while Bangley handles security with his heavy weapons and military training. Hig hears a random voice on his airplane radio. This faint transmission sparks a deep hope that a better life and real human connection exist beyond their fence, leading him to risk everything on a dangerous flight into the unknown

The issues with this film are numerous, chief among which is the extremely slow pace of the story. It takes a good while for the plot to even remotely kick in, and by then I think many people will start to switch off. The acting is OK, just not as good as I expected. The standout performer is Guy Pierce who revels in playing a grouchy, over-protective father to Cima. Josh Brolin almost decided to stay at home and phone-in his performance, and Jacob Elordi kind of stumbles from scene to scene.
Allison Janney plays Darlene, a very weird character towards the end of the film who does an amazing job at playing a very low rent imitation of Jeff Goldblum. She was fun to watch in this role, but this part of the movie was so tonally offset from the rest of the film, it became jarring and just plain weird.
The effects are great, just what you would expect from a high budget production. The practical effects are great too, so if we were judging the film on that alone, the film would score well. The soundtrack is great, as is almost all of Harry Gregson-Williams’ work.
The script is OK, I didn’t find it particularly tight in structure, or really interesting at all in places. The action scenes are very tight and graphic, which is the complete opposite to the everything else which falls somewhat flat. The cinema was less than half full for this showing, and a young woman six or so seats away from me snored through half of the film. I think that alone demonstrates how tedious and monotonous this film does really become.

In conclusion, this is a relatively OK film, but is not what the trailer promised, and it will leave you feeling somewhat underwhelmed. At nearly two hours runtime, I think you’ll be glad when the credits finally roll!

I give The Dog Stars…

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