Battledogs (2013)

Number Rolled: 56

Movie Name/Year: Battledogs (2013)

Genre: Action Thriller

Length: 88 minutes

Rating: NR

Director: Alexander Yellen

Writer: Shane Van Dyke

Actors: Craig Sheffer, Dennis Haysbert, Kate Vernon, Ariana Richards, Bill Duke, Wes Studi, Ernie Hudson, Benjamin James, Anthony Pacella, Darin Cooper, Afrim Gjonbalaj, Giovanni Roselli

Donna has just disembarked from a plane when she starts to realize she doesn’t feel too well. She’s a little woozy and the variety of sounds seems to be getting to her. In an effort to get control of herself, she runs into a bathroom to breathe. It isn’t long until she’s overcome, shifting into a wolf-like creature and running through the airport feasting on people while spreading the disease.

I thought the description of this movie was really interesting. It made it seem like an apocalypse with werewolves replacing zombies. Needless to say, I had to see what it was all about. “Battledogs,” however, isn’t quite what the description leads one to believe.

The beginning was great. I wasn’t too fond of the creature transformations, but they weren’t anywhere near the worst I’ve seen. Everything was incredibly fast paced. Only five minutes into the movie you’re thrust into the main plot, which is something I really do enjoy. When a movie moves too slow in the beginning, it’s easy for people to get bored and write it off completely. There was no issue with that here.

The acting was pretty decent for the most part. Ariana Richards and Dennis Haysbert played their parts very convincingly and made up for the lackluster performance of Craig Sheffer and Bill Duke. Even with their effort, though, they weren’t able to save the movie.

The first half was just as interesting as the last half was horrible. It looks like the writer or director (possibly both) got bored half-way through and decided to just google “apocalypse movie stereotypes.” I think it’s a huge shame, too, because the concept really seemed to have a great deal of potential.

I want to be able to like the movie, just because it could have been great and it started out with that intent. It’s unfortunate that the ending was so bad that I can’t possibly look back on “Battledogs” fondly.

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 3.5/5

Overall Opinion – 1.5/5

The Random Rating: R – for strong violence

Movie Trailer: