It says something about us that dogs are critical when it comes to postapocalyptic movies. Tom Hanks had an adorable terrier in “Finch” and Will Smith had a heroic German shepherd in “I Am Legend.” Another German shepherd is due to accompany Brad Pitt in next month’s “Heart of Beast,” but until then we have “The Dog Stars” and its four-legged Malinois star.The pup is named Jasper in Ridley Scott’s adaptation of Peter Heller’s novel, a tale of man and man’s best friend trying to find purpose in a brutal, post-pandemic Colorado. What this proves is you can’t tell a story about humanity without a little canine.
Scott’s movie is a welcome if slightly odd addition to the postapocalyptic canon, a movie less centered on the kill-or-be-killed mutant hellscape than the costs of survival itself. Ignoring one unhinged sequence toward the end, “The Dog Stars” is a quiet love story set amid sniper fire, RPGs and fuel cans. It’s even optimistic.
Jacob Elordi and his dog. (Fabio Lovino/20th Century Studios via AP)
Josh Brolin from "The Dog Stars." (20th Century Studios via AP)
Jacob Elordi stars as Hig, a mechanic and pilot who has survived a pandemic that wiped out most of humanity, including his beloved wife. He’s holed up at an abandoned airport in Erie, Colorado, accompanied by the ever-alert Jasper — who’s a good boy? — and an ex-military man, Bangley, played by Josh Brolin. He’s not such a good boy.Hig spends his days flying his Cessna into Denver to scavenge for food and supplies, or looking after other pockets of survivors, like a Mennonite community whose connection to the land and simple ways seem perfectly suited for the End Days.
