IR Film Review: THE DOG STARS [20th Century Studios]
The aspect of any Ridley Scott film has to do with control, perspective and shift. Sometimes, in recent memory, his films have gone wayward losing themselves more in the concept than the arch of the story. With “The Dog Stars” there is more an efficiency of path, which was probably dictated by the novel but its efficiency and baseline element explored in the pace give it a much more organic progression than say “Gladiator 2” which was much more meandering. Here the initial story of Hig (Jacob Elordi) and Bangley (Josh Brolin) has just the right amount of tension and know how to have them survive after a virus wipes out most of the people on earth. They each need each other but Hig needs something more. Elordi is much more approachable and his tone better than "Wuthering Heights" though that character was a brooding sloppy mess anyway which was part of the point. Here especially in the initial run into the desolateness of Denver (which was done beautifully on sets in Italy) there is a sense of isolation not unlike "I Am Legend". Brolin is playing his usual gruff self but the fatalist concept works well here. Brolin himself said the style of shooting Scott does threw him off. Scott usually has six cameras running (you can see A-F in the credits which always makes one think there is a whole other film on the cutting room floor).
And yet one if the best scenes is a close single of Brolin on a moving tractor doing a silioqui with with Elordi out of focus quietly in the background...and one thinks it couldn’t be shot any other way. That basis bolts forth with them defending the compound but Hig keeps going back to his house in Denver where his wife, now dead, used to be. The virus has taken most of everyone and yet there are packs of rabid people called Reapers banding together without conscience to pillage the land. Hig does push out and crash lands by accident where he meets Cina (Margaret Qualley) and Pops (an always great Guy Pearce which Scott uses every once and again). Like "Waterworld", there is a push on and an eventual landing in a further west town which offers a bright point blinded a slice of darkness. The problem is that despite the talent of an Oscar winning actress, her turn feels more carnival-like than actually scary which is part of the reason the ball is dropped in the last quarter of the fil, (even though inherently that was probably part of the book). The resolution of the story in the end though makes sense because it shows a progression but still leaves many questions. That is OK across the board because doing so gives the audience something to think about. “The Dog Stars” is one of Scott’s more even, approachable and lived-in films he has made recently. While this might have to do with more oversight likely on the studio level, there is a nice balance with crisp performances, good action and some great photography (with parts of Italy standing in for The Rockies). 85%/B/B+
By Tim Wassberg
