Movie Review: The Call of the Wild

The Call of the Wild ** ½ / *****

Directed by: Chris Sanders.

Written by: Michael Green based on the novel by Jack London.

Starring: Harrison Ford (John Thornton), Dan Stevens (Hal), Omar Sy (Perrault), Karen Gillan (Mercedes), Bradley Whitford (Judge Miller), Colin Woodell (Charles), Cara Gee (Francoise), Scott MacDonald (Dawson).

 

I miss real animal actors in films – they’ve been replaced by CGI versions of animals in big budget movies – particularly ones where the animals are the main characters. You can understand why – animals are unpredictable, so you can never tell if they’re going to give you what you need, whereas you can put some dots on an actor, and give and they’ll do precisely what you need. You can also make them more expressive than real animal actors. And yet, in something like the new The Call of the Wild, these CGI animals never really strike me as real animals. That is key to the story here – as it is about Buck, the giant dog who is the main character here, embracing his inner wild animal. Here, you are always aware that you aren’t watching a real dog, so his animal instincts don’t exist. It undermines the whole movie, which ends up feeling rather toothless and bloodless and becomes just another movie about a cute, lovable animal.

 

Jack London’s story has existed for more than 100 years now and has been adapted several times for the screen – but I venture it’s safe to say that none of them are the definitive version of London’s infamous story. This version is largely faithful – it cuts some of the episodes in the episodic structure, softens some of the characters and the mistreatment Buck receives, and really softens the ending (which would likely be deemed problematic now, as Buck kills several Indigenous people, after they kill his final master) – but many of the episodes, and Buck’s ultimate fate remains the same. But it’s all been softened to make it a family friendly adventure story – instead of the much harsher and more brutal story London was telling.

 

Taken then as a family adventure film, then, fine, the film works somewhat. The film is well cast with Harrison Ford doing good work as John Thornton, the lonely man who becomes Buck’s final human master, and really does show him more kindness than anyone else. Omar Sy and Cara Gee are fun as Perrault and Francoise – the pair of mail delivery drivers who first make Buck into a sled dog. Dan Stevens has a lot of fun, almost literally twirling his mustache as the bad guy. The film directed by animation veteran Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon, The Croods) clearly knows how to direct an exciting action sequence for the whole family, and also clearly knows how to integrate the CGI dog with the real people that surround him. It is a handsomely mounted production to be sure. My kids, 8 and 6, both liked the film – particularly the older one, who I think was drawn in by the action.

 

Yet, to me, I could just always feel that corporate touch to the proceedings – that hand that wants to soften everything, sand off the edges, make everything less nuanced, and more black and white. To give us a cute dog, who looks and acts enough like a dog to fool you at moments but is so clearly animated at others that it becomes a distraction. It turns a harsh survival story into a thrilling family romp – and you keep feeling as if the film is going to go dark, and then it pulls back before it goes too far, because heaven forbid, they lose a couple of dollars at the box office to make a better film. This is what corporate entertainment has become in 2020 – films that try everything possible to appeal to as wide of an audience as it can, sanding off all the edges, all the things in this story that have made it survive for more than 100 years. But hey, that CGI really is cute.