I just watched this last night and really, really liked it. I'm not even a dog person, and I really liked it.
It was a bit grittier than I was expecting. At least some parts. There was a part or two where it was obvious they had to keep it PG-13, but it's a gorgeously filmed survival, adventure flick (even if a little ridiculous at times). I might be a little biased because it does demonstrate some similarities to Riddick (2013) with the canine-esque companion and survival elements. Plus I loved seeing some of the prehistoric animals, like Woolly Mammoth and such. But it's a lean 90 minutes and well-paced. I realized after the fact that one of the Hughes brothers (Book of Eli, From Hell) directed it. That explains why it was so beautifully done. I honestly am not sure if some of the close-up shots of the wolf were CGI or not. Some of them had to have been, but I couldn't tell. Does anyone know? (I may have to watch some special features to find out..)
The lead actor kid in the movie (who does quite a good job) looked familiar to me and it's because I've seen him in 3 other things...
The Road (2009) Let Me In (2010) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
It would be fun to see more movies in this 'world' (so to speak). Prequels or sequels. It's just a big canvas for all sorts of creativity and cool stuff.
__________________ "Happiness is a lie. Life is horror. The light is always dying all across the universe. The last star will flicker out someday, when it does, all that remains is shadow. And I will be its king!"'-Amahl Farouk
Yeah, "feel good" [SPOILER - highlight to read]: by the end at least, haha.. I mean, watching a movie like this you know it's not going to have a miserable ending... ...so in that sense there wasn't much suspense.
And yeah, I wish the part with the Saber-tooth Tiger was done better. The CGI was too dark and probably questionable there, but most of the rest of it was excellent.
[SPOILER - highlight to read]: I wasn't 100% sure if the wolf was going to live, thought it might have had a "my sacrifice for you" spin to it at the end with the wolf doing something epic to save the kid.
[SPOILER - highlight to read]: I guess I just didn't expect anything that sad. Personally I thought the ending was very charming and quite badass. Tribe sporting some new wolf companions. It's interesting to note that that's not how dog domestication happened, but that doesn't mean that it didn't ever happen I guess.