Heart of the Beast is the first of these man-and-his-dog-in-the-wild movies I’ve watched, and though it's nothing special, I can understand why they keep making them. Director David Ayer captures beautiful shots, and while initially simple and slow, the patient story establishes a peaceful relationship between James (Brad Pitt) and his dog Odin. This is needed when the predictable and sensationalized dangers appear later, as the CGI is fairly wonky when they couldn’t shoot practically and some pieces of music are slightly overdramatic. But the escalation in pace, combined with the loving friendship between man and his best friend, kept me interested enough to appreciate the beauty of it all.