Movie Review: 'Call of the Wild'

Call of the Wild is a movie without a country. By that I mean that I am not sure who this movie was made for. It’s not really a kids movie, though it is rated PG. It’s certainly not a sophisticated movie for adults either. Call of the Wild is far too old fashioned for kids to enjoy and it is far too clumsy and hokey for adults. Then, there is Buck the Dog, the star of Call of the Wild, an unruly CGI creation that looks shockingly unrealistic and robs the film of whatever minor charm remains.

Harrison Ford is ostensibly the star of Call of the Wild as a grizzled, old, Yukon prospector named John Thornton. Thornton is the narrator of Call of the Wild but he doesn’t join the story in full until well past the halfway point of the movie. This will leave many in the audience scratching their heads as Ford has top billing in the movie and is barely existent in the plot outside of his voiceover role.

The actual ‘star’ of the movie is former Cirque Du Soleil performer Terry Notary. Notary plays Buck the Dog and by that I mean, he wears a funny suit, hooked up to a computer and uses his physicality to try and emulate the movement of an actual dog. In many ways, Notary is incredible, his physicality is spectacular and his instincts appear to be solid. That said, his scenes as Buck look silly, overwrought and desperately artificial.

The CGI of Call of the Wild is embarrassingly bad at times. It’s not quite Cats level of unwatchable but it is further into the awkward, uncanny valley than Cats because Notary is entirely hidden by the CGI while the cast of Cats weren’t so lucky and had to be seen, heard, and recognized forever for what they’ve done. Notary, at least, could plausibly deny that he’s delivered this ungainly dog of a performance.

The story of Call of the Wild is loosely based on the Jack London novel that has been inflicted upon High School English classes for decades. London’s book is far more engaging and entertaining, perhaps because it wasn’t hampered by a guy pretending to be a dog. Buck is an unruly, pampered pooch who can get away with anything because his owner is a powerful California judge. The judge is played in an unnecessary cameo by Bradley Whitford in a blink and you’ll miss it performance.

Buck is soon kidnapped and sold into servitude, destined to become a sled dog in the Yukon. Though Buck has never seen snow before and is not used to the cold, his massive size and strength make him something of a natural. But, it is Buck’s kindness that eventually makes him a leader. Purchased by a mailman and his wife, played by the wonderful French actor Omar Sy and Jean Louisa Kelly, Buck quickly makes his way to the front of the sled and, for the first time ever, the Yukon gets its mail on time.

This life doesn’t last however and soon Buck is separated from his new pack. A literally mustache twirling villain, portrayed by Dan Stevens, who knows a little something about dodgy CG performances having played Beast in Beauty and the Beast, becomes Buck’s master until his abusiveness causes Ford’s Thornton to step in and steal Buck away for an adventure. The two go prospecting and Buck finds his ‘Call of the Wild.’

Misguided choices doom Call of the Wild multiple times. I understand wanting Buck to be CGI, it cuts down on any chance that a dog could be harmed while making the movie, but the choice of a man to portray the CGI pooch is an absolute disaster. Mr Notary’s physicality is impressive in its intention but the special effect is not great in execution. Buck doesn’t look real and his too expressive face and too human emotions and intelligence are off-putting rather than impressive.

Call of the Wild is a bizarre failure of tone. It’s not a kid flick, it’s not a movie for teens or adults. And, with its disturbingly uncanny, CGI pooch, it’s not really a dog movie. Call of the Wild is also strangely competent for a movie I can’t recommend. In many ways Call of the Wild is not bad. Harrison Ford is actually really great in the movie but the movie around him repeatedly let’s him down by placing him opposite a CGI nightmare of a dog that even his best effort can’t make real.