The Call of the Wild (2020)

Rating: ⭐⭐

This is a remake of the 1935 black and white film which starred a young Clark Gable, based on a Jack London's classic story. This much loved tale which follows the adventures of an amazingly intelligent dog (apparently a cross bred between a St Bernard and a Collie) named Buck during the Gold Rush era of the late 1890's in the cold, photogenic snow capped terrains of Alaska.

Looking at the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), I realised that this story has actually been filmed many times. But I think this is the first time that the main dog(s) used to star in the movie is a CGI animated dog!! Personally I think this had destroyed the whole movie as not only Buck, but, all the animals that appear on this film are computer generated and have a certain artificial quality in their movement and expressions. Those audiences who had complained abut the animals in the recent "live action" CGI animated version of Lion King not showing enough emotions and looking too much like real animals will probably be delighted at how Buck (and the other supporting animal roles) appear here. Buck's body and facial expression are often so human-like it makes the whole movie feel more like a Disney fairy tale than a real life adventure in the wilderness. This constant distraction robs the movie of its focus as we are presented with one unbelievable situation after another. As we watch Harrison Ford engage in his many conversations with Buck we can't help trying imagine the actor performing to what must have been an inanimate object of someone in a green suit! Instead of being awed by the beauty of nature and be enlightened by the behaviour of animals like a grizzly bear or a pack of wolves in their natural habitat, we are presented in unlikely behaviour more akin to how humans would behave! I suppose I could go on and on why and how the computer animation has provided a disservice to the movie but that would be a futile effort. The damage has been done and the end result shows.

The Call of the Wild is a missed effort to recreate a much loved classic tale with the added presence of one of Hollywood's iconic actors. It would probably have been more appealing if it was produced purely as a 100% computer animation. Perhaps the next time this tale gets made into yet another version. Watching this only makes me want to watch the original black and white version with Clark Cable just to see how Hollywood can manage the tale with a real dog way back in the 1930's.