Publication Date: 08-22-2025

Alpha and Omega (2010) review

Dir. Anthony Bell and Bell Gluck

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★

Giving predictably mediocre animated movies has become my bag for almost 10 years now. Every now and then, I unearth a gem like Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero. Most of the time, however, I’m left with little to say about a total dud. Rather than trying to subscribe some deeper meaning to now-defunct Crest Animation’s wholly mediocre Alpha and Omega, released into theaters back in September 2010 to modest success, I want to first address just how much life some of these second/third-tier animated films end up having.

For starters, Alpha and Omega was far from a box office smash-hit ($50 million worldwide on a $20 million budget), but it was successful enough to spawn seven direct-to-video sequels between 2013 and 2017. It’s similar to Crest Animation’s other film, Norm of the North, which is now up to three separate sequels. Here’s a throwback: that strange Vanguard animation bomb Happily N’Ever After managed to get a sequel of its own, and Rock Dog, released back in 2017, and its generic premise was at least unconvoluted enough to generate two sequels of its own.

I bring this up because I, myself, do not have younger siblings, and am not planning on having children of my own, so my pulse on what connects with kids couldn’t be more further from my grasp. My guess is the Alpha and Omega series got popular thanks to services like Redbox and Walmart $5 movie bins, and the presence of adorable, CGI animals on the films’ paratext attracted parents like flypaper when they were searching for an electronic babysitter for their children. Like most films of this ilk, many of which mentioned above, Alpha and Omega isn’t outright bad, but it’s completely unsubstantial and derivative.

The umpteenth rendition of the Capulet vs. Montague dynamic, the film revolves around Humphrey (voiced by Justin Long), a young Omega wolf who loves bobsledding down hills in hollowed-out logs with members of his wolfpack. Oh, how he yearns for courtship with his Alpha wolf friend Kate (Hayden Panettiere), but she already has a mate named Garth (Chris Carmack) lined up and waiting for her. Alas, star-crossed lovers. Until forest rangers shoot tranquilizing darts at both Humphrey and Kate and ship them from the deep woods of Alberta’s Jasper National Park to Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho from which the two must find their way back.

The biggest problem with Alpha and Omega is twofold: it’s not that funny and it’s not that interesting. Bland, late aughts animation gives the film the look of a project in need of another render or two; the characters themselves have unmemorable, archetypal personalities; and ultimately, the humor is distilled down to juvenile antics, ala the sight of animals being clumsy. Put another way, not an ideal final work from the late, great Dennis Hopper, who voices the leader of the Alpha pack.

Voiced by: Justin Long, Hayden Panettiere, Dennis Hopper, Danny Glover, Christina Ricci, and Chris Carmack. Directed by: Anthony Bell and Ben Gluck.