The Call of the Wild (2020)

When I first started watching this movie, I didn't think I was going to enjoy it, due to some of the scenes at the start, but as the movie went on, it got more and more BRILLIANT

Fmovies: The Call of The Wild is a solid, incredibly well made movie. Buck is an extremely likeable protagonist who goes on a compelling journey of self discovery. Despite being a dog and not having a word of dialogue, Buck is an incredibly interesting, three dimensional character with a well developed arc. The CGI used to bring him to life is amazing. While it doesn't always look natural, Buck's CGI model is so expressive and can cause the viewer to experience a variety of different emotions, despite not even being there. Harrison Ford also does well as the elderly, depressed John Thornton, carrying a great deal of tragedy and mystery about his past throughout the movie. The movie also features stunning cinematography, with several beautiful shots and camera angles. It's a true joy to look at. However, there are a few problems with the movie. For starters, John Thornton narrates a lot throughout the movie, despite not being present for, and therefore having no way of knowing about, the events that he's describing. Another issue is Dan Stevens' character; Hal. Hal is an entirely unnecessary, one dimensional antagonist, who just doesn't work with the story this movie is trying to tell. His presence also completely derails John Thornton's resolution. However, despite these problems, I still recommend The Call Of The Wild. It's a fantastic movie, with an incredible protagonist and stunningly beautiful visuals that you shouldn't miss.

Not sure what the critics saw that was so bad with the CGI on buck the dog... if anything the ability of having animal like emotions displayed felt much better than looking at lions trying to speak...I thought the movie was well put together. Harrison Ford does a very simple yet good performance, the narrative is simple and easy to figure out for adults but still very relate-able and, the whole journey of the protagonists is really good a true adventure of self-discovery... What really told me that the movie nailed it, was when in the end I asked my 9 year old, what was it all about... and she goes it's about being you, not letting others tell you what you can or cannot do... and my 12 years old, goes like it's about finding your place in the world...take the kids, have them be quite and listen...they might just get some life lessons out of it.

The Call of the Wild fmovies. For a $135 million dollar costing financial flop that stars a much ridiculed CGI dog as its main protagonist, The Call of the Wild is a surprisingly watchable family affair that is nowhere near as bad as its terrible trailers or marketing campaign made it look to be.

Marking his first foray into non-animated feature film-making after well-liked efforts Lilo and Stitch, The Croods and How to Train Your Dragon, director Chris Sanders had a difficult task adapting Jack London's famed source material for the big screen and you can sense the film is never completely comfortable within itself as our computer generated furry friend Buck sets out on an Alaskan adventure filled with life lessons, gold and a grizzled Han Solo.

It takes us as viewers sometime too warm up to Buck in his current form, something that would not have been the case had Buck been played by some real life pooches (just look at recent effort Togo as an example) and it hurts Call of the Wild in the long run as Sanders tries to invest us into Buck's journey that takes him from spoiled pooch to mistreated captive on his quest to be partnered with Harrison Ford's isolated alcoholic John Thornton.

On the way to this inevitable pairing, there's a somewhat enjoyable if not overly well-established sub-plot with Omar Sy's mail delivery sled team owner Perrault, which is fine if not particularly memorable and a terrible Dan Steven's appearance as the horrid extremely overplayed villain of the piece Hal but once Thornton arrives on the scene, Call of the Wild becomes a far more enticing experience that showcases the potential of London's source material, too display a likeable scenario of man and dog's friendship.

It helps that Ford seems as invested in this role as much as his been in the last few decades, delivering one of his better all-round performances in some time as his on screen charisma and enthusiasm helping us forget that Buck is only ever mildly believable in his imaginary form, no doubt necessitated by a raft of situations in the film that would've been impossible to pull off with a real life canine in the role.

There's not a lot of surprises to be found narratively here, with London's story pillaged and pilfered from in the many years since it was published but with the film's latter half more than making up for a rough beginning and weak segments, this pretty to look at example of financial failure on a big-scale is a film that many will still find highly entertaining and enjoyable.

Final Say -

Overcoming some at times hard to take CGI and a poor opening half, The Call of the Wild isn't a new canine classic but its central relationship between a lost human soul and a caring four legged friend makes it an adventure you won't regret taking.

3 gold nuggets out of 5

As it's dads 92nd birthday we went to see a movie I knew he'd love, Call of the Wild. Based on the classic novel by Jack London the movie tells the story of Buck the dog and his adventures as a comfortable city dog to a working dog in The Yukon, this is squarely aimed at the family market, playing down the cruel treatment of sled dogs and the harsh life. The CGI animals were good but didn't take me out of myself. It's schmalzy and cheesy but good fun and I shed a few tears. 3.5 stars George: A very dramatic movie with fantastic scenery of The Yukon! The animal animation was fantastic and Harrison Ford played a good role as the curmudgeonly loner. I remember reading Jack London's novels and I enjoyed this adaptation very much. 4 stars PS Meredith cried several times.

Very, very loosely based on one of the great adventures of literature, this movie frequently plays more like a 1970s Disney film. While I think it's awesome, using a CGI dog to put him and the others through the harsh action scenes, did they have to make him look so cartoonish in the more personal scenes? A dog's reactions should be that of a dog, not a human. About half of the names in the cast are in blink and you'll miss it cameos, and the film only really comes to life when the focus narrows down to Ford and Buck, getting in touch with nature. It's only the last half hour or so, with them, that keeps me from giving this an even lower score.