Writer: Janak

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Watch this if you liked: “Open Season”, “The Lion King” & “Bolt”

"Alpha And Omega" surely knows how to boast a list of well known Hollywood superstars in an animated cartoon. Justin Long ("Going The Distance) voice stars Humphrey, a happy go lucky Omega wolf who falls for his female counterpart Kate, a well discipline Alpha wolf voiced by Hayden Panettiere ("I Love You, Beth Cooper"). Kate's father Winston and sister Lily are voiced by Danny Glover ("Lethal Weapon" franchise) and Christina Ricci ("Penelope"), respectively. Chris Carmack ("Just My Luck") plays Garth, Lily's love interest, while the late Dennis Hopper ("Easy Rider") gives his final voice command as Tony, Garth's father.

The film tells the story of Alpha and Omega from Canada who at the start is shot by a ranger, knocked out from the tranquilizer and taken to Idaho to repopulate. There the two wolves then finds Marcel (Larry Miller), who has an avid interest in golf and his caddy, a duck named Paddy (Eric Price) and request for unlikely route to return to their village. Without giving up hope, the two wolves embark on a journey to find their way home before their pack starts to attack a rival clan over a small prey base.

Justin Long and Hayden Panettiere's voice pairing complements their character's personalities very well, while it would be pretty interesting to see these two actors appear together in a movie one day. The story carries a predictable plot, similar to of Disney's "The Lion King" and "Bolt", that is generally aimed at families. Despite unable to match animated features from Pixar or DreamWorks, the animated drawings and entire effect took place at Crest Animation Studios in Mumbai, India, while post production was held in America. Although it does not have the same feel as "Ice Age", "Madagascar" or even "Bolt", nonetheless, the 3D format version would be a better option to catch compared to the normal 2D.

"Alpha And Omega" bears singing, dancing, crazy sidekicks, cool action moves and a guaranteed happy ending for a 3-D boot, however the overall entertainment value of the movie didn't quite surge. Those who enjoy watching cartoons in the late 90s will get a little kick after watching this.

Cinema Online, 06 October 2010