Heart of the Beast review: Brad Pitt and his loyal combat dog brave the Alaskan wilderness

4/5 stars American writer-director David Ayer has built a career on tough-guy films featuring unlikely team-ups – from mismatched policemen Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke in Training Day (2001) to Will Smith and an orc in Bright (2017) to Jason Statham and some bees in The Beekeeper (2024). However, Heart of the Beast, a soulful survival drama scripted by Cameron Alexander, represents Ayer’s best combination yet. A grizzled Brad Pitt stars as retired special forces officer James Belmont, who...