Everyone giving this movie high ratings cuz DOGGIE CUTE and WOW BEAUTIFUL SCENERY. All of which is computer generated. Revenant told a better survival story. The boy and his dog don't have much of a character arc. There's a snow storm, he falls in the ice but is rescued 1 minute later with no lasting repercussions, there's a CGI tiger that bites the dog which is also over in 10 seconds. Any potential threat is dissolved in 2 minutes and it's clear that neither character is in danger. The lack of any believable threat means there's no tension and the film just putters along. It would've been more interesting if there was an enemy tribe pursuing them or a wolf pack.

The movie pacing is very slow, barely anything happens. There are only 3 characters of consequence if you include the dog. Lots of sweeping landscape imagery with CGI backdrops give an uncanny valley look to many of the shots, along with some unnatural color tinting choices. The movie takes itself too seriously, especially the bland father-son relationship trope which has been done to death. The boy is such an uninteresting character. Too many CGI animals. Is it too much to ask for real animals in a movie? Some of the dog shots are real, but most are (obvious) CGI.

The story is silly and unrealistic. The dog warms up to him almost instantly. Why do people lose all rational thought at the site of a cute dog? Apparently a cute dog and computer generated landscapes makes a good movie to lots of people on here. If you want a good animal movie, watch Homeward Bound.