Alpha and Omega 2: A Howl-iday Adventure
Alpha and Omega 2: A Howl-iday Adventure (or just Alpha and Omega 2) is a 2013 American computer-animated action comedy movie. It was co-produced and directed by Richard Rich. It is the sequel to the 2010 animated movie Alpha and Omega. The first announcement for the movie was in September 2012, when it was announced for a worldwide theatrical release. However, the movie faced a lot of scandals and delays during its production and was released straight-to-DVD instead on October 8, 2013 with a Christmas theme. Alpha and Omega 3: The Great Wolf Games was released on iTunes on March 4, 2014. It was released as a Walmart exclusive on March 25, 2014.
| Alpha and Omega 2: A Howl-iday Adventure | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Richard Rich Anthony Bell |
| Produced by | Richard Rich Daniel Engelhardt Susan Gelb Ken Katsumoto |
| Written by | Tom Kane |
| Based on | Characters created by Steve Moore Ben Gluck |
| Starring | Ben Diskin Kate Higgins Liza West Lindsay Torrance |
| Music by | Richard Evans Matthew Gerrard |
| Cinematography | Daryn Okada |
| Edited by | Louis La Prax Scott Campana |
| Distributed by | Lions Gate Entertainment |
Release date | October 8, 2012 (Australia) October 8, 2013 (United Kingdom) |
Running time | 47 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Plot
Kate and Humphrey are eager to spend the upcoming winter with their three pups, Stinky, Claudette and Runt, as it will be the first that they've spent together as a family.
While out travelling with his siblings, Runt, the only Omega offspring of Kate and Humphrey, climbs a tree and spots 3 rogue wolves in the area. After 2 of the rogue wolves save Stinky and Claudette from a grizzly, Runt suddenly disappears. Stinky and Claudette then inform Kate and Humphrey, including their relatives as they were about to have a family dinner, about Runt's disappearance. The family hurries to find Runt, and Kate sees that the rogue wolves have captured Runt and are heading to Banff National Park, home to the rogue wolf pack and south of Jasper. After being warned by Tony and Winston about how dangerous the rogues are, Kate and Humphrey still go on to find their lost pup, much to their disappointment. Meanwhile, at Banff, Runt is taken to the rogues’ leader, King. He is then made as a bait, as King expects the western pack to come for Runt. Princess, King's daughter, is appointed to care for Runt and to keep the bait alive. As night falls, a storm approaches, prompting Kate and Humphrey to stop the search and wait for the storm to subside the next day. Meanwhile, at the den, Stinky and Claudette sneak out to help their parents search for Runt while everyone is asleep.
The next day, Kate and Humphrey meet Marcel and Paddy. After following what their parents did before to cross the river, Stinky and Claudette find them and go with their parents to help in the search. On the way, they meet a lost grizzly cub who was separated from his mother. At first, Humphrey refuses because of his experience with a bear cub before. He then decides to let the bear go with them. A mile away from Banff, Kate and Humphrey leave Paddy to guard the children while they and Marcel retrieve Runt. Despite this, the children manage to convince Paddy to go. While on Banff, their family also arrives and Humphrey is made to distract the rogues by acting as a gigantic "special-class alpha" named Lockjaw while Kate retrieves Runt. After finding out that it is but a trick, King orders the Alpha rogues to kill them. Winston then orders Kate and Humphrey to take the cubs to the north side in the human roads and they will rendezvous there. Fortunately, the bear cub's family arrives and helps them defeat the rogues after the cub explained how the wolves helped him. As the snow covers the lands, Humphrey and his family are lost. Runt climbs a tree and sees the human roads about ten miles away at the foot of the mountain. They then logboard their way down.
Upon reaching the same gas station and seeing Max, the same hunter they encountered before, Humphrey hesitates. They go in anyway and the man sees them. Once seeing Kate and Humphrey have pups (and him having a family of his own), Max decides to be nice this time. So, he gives them free food and leaves the door open, much to their surprise. The film ends with Kate and Humphrey deciding to settle there for the winter as they all go to sleep.
Reception
Alpha and Omega 2: A Howl-iday Adventure received generally mixed reviews by critics, who praised the film for its improvement on the script, humor, dialogue, story and voice acting, but they also criticized the film's animation quality, short run time and rushed ending. So far, the film has a 55% in Rotten Tomatoes and a 50 out of 100 in Metacritic, indicating "mixed to average reviews". The consensus for the movie in Rotten Tomatoes is "While it suffers from sub-par animation and a rushed plot, Alpha and Omega 2: A Howl-iday Adventure delivers enough good thrills and improvements to keep fans and audiences entertained". Just like the first movie, Alpha and Omega 2: A Howl-iday Adventure was very successful with fans, who gave the film extremely positive reviews, despite the mixed critical reaction and gaining a 81% rating in the RT community. The movie also gained a cult following.
Soundtrack
- "Life After You" by Daughtry
- "Learn to Love Again" by Lawson
- "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)" by Train
- "I Found You" by The Wanted
- "Goin' Back to Indiana" by The Jackson 5
- "They Don't Care About Us" by Michael Jackson
- "Wonderful Christmas Time" by Wings
- "I'll Never Break Your Heart" by Backstreet Boys
- "Shake Up Christmas" by Train
- "Christmas Time" by Backstreet Boys
- "What Do You Want From Me" by Adam Lambert
- "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton
- "I'm Your Angel" by Celine Dion featuring R. Kelly
- "I Don't Wanna Spend One More Christmas Without You" by 'N Sync
- "If My Heart Was a House" by Owl City
Sequels
The two other sequels of Alpha and Omega are currently in production. Alpha and Omega 3: The Great Wolf Games is set to have direct-to-DVD release on March 25, 2014 and it will be a Walmart exclusive. The plot will follow around The Great Wolf Games, which are happening in Jasper when Kate, Humphrey and the puppies arrive home. In the games, all the pups from different packs come together and compete in different games. But, something goes wrong, leaving most of the Alphas out of commission. So, it's up to Humphrey to lead the new team to victory. Alpha and Omega: The Legend of the Saw Tooth Cave will be released in October 31 2014, along with Alpha and Omega 5: Family Vacation to be released in Spring 2015.