The Call of The Wild
Based on the novel by Jack London, an oversized dog with an oversized personality named Buck from California finds himself kidnapped, crated, and shipped up North to the Yukon to become a sled dog in the time of the gold rush. At the same time, John Thornton (Harrison Ford), makes his way to the same remote mining town; and, through a series of chance encounters the two become friends. But, as Buck spends more time in the hills and mountains loyal to a code of his own, it’s the call of the wild that ultimately will determine his fate.
Directed by Chris Sanders and adapted for screen by Michael Green, this live action/CGI spectacle presents an interesting mix of old and new offering many of the original plot points with a mindset for the 21st century in casting and racial tone, which, in this case, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. So, our focus turns to the elephant in the room, in this instance a giant anthropomorphized CGI dog, a tough sell for fans of well trained cinema hounds of yesteryear, alas there’s certainly less to misinterpret from the Scooby-Doo antics of Buck, but still, prepare for eye rolls and groans from the non-believers. As for the film’s live cast, it’s hard to fault any of the caricature-esque portrayals, noted, over the top Snidely Whiplash inspired Hal (Dan Stevens) is particularly inspired. Cinematically the film does offer plenty of Yukon eye candy with a further blurring of the lines between actual landscape and CGI, interesting. Overall, this family friendly flick is a hard ask for top dollar ticket prices, consider a matinee or stream later. The Call of The Wild is rated PG.