The Call of the Wild - Review
Directed by Chris Sanders (20th Century Studios)
The Call of the Wild is based on the novel Call of the Wild by Jack London which was published all the way back in 1903. A few adaptations have been made over the century but this is my first exposure to the title. Buck is the main character, as he transfers hands from one human master to another, until he ultimately spends the most meaningful time with Harrison Ford’s character. The movie surprised me in that Buck is the main character, and not Ford like the marketing made me think. This movie feels like it was made in the 80′s or 90′s, for better or for worse, and I found it to be nostalgic, if flawed in a couple aspects.
The first thing most people will notice about the film is that Buck is entirely created with CGI. I can understand not wanting to put an animal in harm’s way or to have them do things that would be impossible for a dog to do (nor should they) but I wasn’t 100% a fan of him being CGI 100% of the time. It makes me think how much better it could have been if we were looking at a real dog most of the time. It’s certainly been done in the past so I’m not sure why they wouldn’t do it here, other than it being easier. Buck looks better when he’s in surroundings also created by CGI, or is interacting with the other dogs, who are also entirely computer animated. The animation itself is not bad most of the time, but the emotional connection and tangibility would have been better if the animals were real as often as possible.
We meet Buck somewhere in the American South where he’s owned by an affluent family. Buck shows he’s a little too big and ambitious to fit into his owner’s antique and delicate lifestyle. He is captured by smugglers who are selling dogs to the gold rush efforts all the way up in Alaska, where Buck is transported without food, water, or sleep. Here is when Buck realizes the dark side of humanity, and it wouldn’t be his first in this film alone. I was surprised that Harrison Ford barely makes an appearance for the first half of the movie. Other than narrating certain events and bumping into Buck a couple of times, he really doesn’t appear on screen until the mid point of the film. I liked this twist because it built up his presence and you appreciated him all the more when he and Buck eventually bond and go on their own journey together.
The Call of the Wild has an unnamed villain thrown in halfway through who only makes a few appearances. With the adventure at hand, I thought this character played by Dan Stevens was jarring and took away from the spirit of the film. It doesn’t help that this villain is written extremely one-dimensionally and is a cartoon character more fake than any of the CGI in the film. The other thing that took me out of the film was how personified Buck was. Forget the CGI, there are many things he does and reacts to that a dog obviously wouldn’t do. It reminded me of Balto or a Disney animated movie where the dogs comprehend things around them on the level of their human co-stars. I like most of the physical communication he and the other dogs have, but the humans interact with Buck with no nuance or how people really would train/communicate with canines.
Most of the first half of the movie is getting Buck to the Yukon and training as a sled dog. He competes for dominance with the pack leader, and faces all sorts of challenges of being in the vast wild such as sleeping in the snow and learning all kinds of harsh lessons very different from his pampered life in the South. I enjoyed seeing Buck face these challenges, but I can’t help but feel this movie was held back by its PG rating. When Buck is beaten by humans, or fights with other dogs, I can’t help but imagine how brutal the book must have been, and how much more effective the film would have been to show a little blood, scaring, and violence. More than once do dogs simply vanish from the film, usually after a conflict. Buck, for example, “defeats” the established alpha dog Spitz, and Spitz simply walks off into the wilderness never to be seen again. I was sure it was setup for Spitz to have a dramatic re-entry to the story and a key moment, but it never happened. There’s another part where a bunch of dogs simply “got away” and are never seen again.
According to my friend who has read Call of the Wild, these characters die in the novel, and the movie would have benefited dramatically to depict this somehow on screen or in the story. I may sound down on the film, but I enjoyed the majority of it. I particularly liked the black wolf which makes an appearance a few times, which represented Buck’s bravery, and he begins to use his instincts to further become a wild and self sustaining dog. He sees the wolf, and he knows he’s on the right path. This is a family movie, and while it does get dark a couple of times, it also feels neutered from what it could have been. Overall this is a good movie that reminds me of the kids movies I grew up with: a little bit of darkness and peril, but a strong sense of adventure and scope. If you have faith and love for dogs, are a fan of Harrison Ford, or someone who can appreciate a whimsical adventure, The Call of the Wild should be entertaining.
