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Awix (3310 KP) rated The Call Of The Wild (2020) in Movies
Feb 25, 2020
Rather too big-budget Jack London adaptation is long on CGI and short on grit, but remains engaging and dignified entertainment. Pampered house dog Buck is abducted from his California home and packed off to Alaska during the gold rush, slowly getting in touch with his wild side. Harrison Ford plays the main human part - there was something oddly familiar about seeing the star team up with a huge, hairy, almost totally non-verbal partner and then I remembered the Russian word for dog is sowbacca and it all made a bit more sense.
The harder edges of London's book have been sanded down considerably, and this does verge on the sentimental and cutesy in places - for one ghastly moment I thought the dogs were going to start talking to each other - and the fact it's made with a CGI dog (Terry Notary has been mo-capped) will probably put some people off. But it's solid, likeable stuff, lifted considerably by performances from Ford and Omar Sy. I still think it was madness to spend over $120 million on a film which will probably struggle to find an audience, but it has a definite charm to it.
The harder edges of London's book have been sanded down considerably, and this does verge on the sentimental and cutesy in places - for one ghastly moment I thought the dogs were going to start talking to each other - and the fact it's made with a CGI dog (Terry Notary has been mo-capped) will probably put some people off. But it's solid, likeable stuff, lifted considerably by performances from Ford and Omar Sy. I still think it was madness to spend over $120 million on a film which will probably struggle to find an audience, but it has a definite charm to it.