The Call of the Wild is a charming, heartwarming, eventful and epic retelling of a classic tale. The CGI grows on you, the scenery is wondrous and John Powell’s score elevates the beauty of this movie. Harrison Ford is terrific and Buck will melt your soul. Based on the classic and Legendary novel The Call of the Wild (1903) by Jack London, this adaptation of the beloved source material is fairly reminiscent, but still breathing new and inventive life for people who aren’t familiar with the story at all.
While telling the same story, The Call of the Wild focuses on a big-hearted dog, named Buck, whose blissful domestic life is turned upside down when he is suddenly uprooted from his California home and transplanted to the exotic wilds of the Yukon during the Gold Rush of the 1890s. As the newest rookie on a mail delivery dog sled team–and later its leader–Buck experiences the adventure of a lifetime, ultimately finding his true place in the world and becoming his own master.
I think a lot of people, myself included, were a bit skeptical on how Buck looked in the trailers. A CGI dog was a definite concern going into this because one might assumed why they just didn’t get a real dog to perform in this movie. Now having seen The Call of the Wild, it’s hard to imagine as to how they could have used a real dog. It may seem like a lazy tactic, but in all seriousness, The Call of the Wild does a convincing job of displaying that decision, for not just Buck but for all the CGI dogs. While the special effects do come off a bit tongue and cheek in the beginning, the visuals grow on you as the movie progresses.
Buck is the best thing that this movie has to offer. It’s up for the viewer to be on board with how he looks in the finished product, but the execution of Buck and the expressive and emotional elements his character exhibits is represented with such grace and beauty. We see him struggling in the beginning that by the end of the movie, he’s finally embraced what he should have been since day one: a true alpha-male. It’s the type of dog that makes you wish you had a dog like Buck, one that has a good spirit that needs to be in the right place.Buck is a wonderful and fully realize character who goes through so much turmoil and struggles, both internal and external, that end up making him one of the best parts of the movie.
Buck also shares a beautiful and very resonating relationship with Harrison Ford, as John Thornton. Like Buck, Harrison Ford plays a character that’s also on his own personal journey. Thornton is living in a remote cabin, drinking too much whiskey and feeling desperately sorry for himself, until he meets Buck which is when he life has opened up in ways he could have never even fathomed. We all love Harrison Ford from Star Wars or as Indiana Jones, but we tend to forget how good he is outside of those iconic roles. Harrison Ford brings the right amount of depth and emotional weight that make his character arousing and affectionate. Ford genuinely looked as if he was having the time of his life because his character is just so damn likable. He’s endearing, broken, and his character arc really is a powerful one that moves you and breaks your heart, but with a positive outlook. But the relationship he shares with Buck melts your soul just like snow in the Spring time.
The Call of the Wild is directed by Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon, Lilo & Stitch and The Croods), makes his debut in the live-action realm, and from a man whose really known for doing animated movies, Sanders really finds his footing in this type of format. He brings so much life and nature into the relationship between Buck and Thornton, but also to the incredible scenery that we are constantly gazing at with almost every frame of the movie. Shots of the mountains, rivers or the Dogs sleighing were very well crafted to witness, but Sanders brilliantly captures the essence of nature that you could almost feel you’re physically present in this world.
John Powell, as the films composer, manages to elevate the films beauty in ways that are almost impossible to describe. His music essentially becomes a character in the movie and it enhances the adventure that Buck has as the movie moves along. John Powell is film composer that doesn’t get the credit he truly deserves and one of the best aspects of Powell’s music, in particular with The Call of the Wild, is his music has such a grand adventure to it. His music is so beautifully orchestrated, but it really is a spectacular companion to the story and to the character of Buck. When Buck is chasing Rabbits or his taking charge in the dog sleighing, you feel so much emotion and adventure with Powell’s music.
The Call of the Wild is solid adaptation of Jack London’s novel that still retains the essence and the themes that London was covering. There’s people out there that are torn by having a CGI dog, but given the overall vibe of the movie, this seemed like the only way and it worked in the movies favor. Harrison Ford hasn’t been this great in awhile, Buck is a delightful character and John Powell’s music is ravishing and it’s just a good time at the movies. It’s a movie that features a universal theme, and that’s the idea that one should find their place in life, and The Call of the Wild project that idea poetically.
My grade for The Call of the Wild: B+
Zane's take at the Cinema's 