Movie Report Card: The Call of the Wild

Date: 2/21/20
Title: The Call of the Wild
Director: Chris Sanders
Starring: Harrison Ford, Omar Sy, Cara Gee, Dan Stevens

GRADES

ACTING: 80
DIRECTING: 75
SCREENPLAY: 75
EDITING: 75
CINEMATOGRAPHY: 85
SOUNDTRACK: 75

FINAL: 77/C+

COMMENTS

The Call of the Wild is a very weird movie to talk about. On one hand, Harrison Ford, is pretty good in it. His interactions with the MOCAP man playing Buck on set, almost sells this whole thing. Almost. The problem is, the all CGI Buck doesn't always work. In fact at times, it is downright distracting and takes you completely out of the movie. I get it, they wanted a little bit more expression from the dog. However, I don't think it was entirely necessary. Sure, there are some things a real dog couldn't do. However, they would have just CGI'd that anyway. The normal Buck interactions, could have easily been played by a real dog. That being said, there are moments that work, but the vast majority of it comes away with middling results. The more CGI, cartoony dog works for the little ones. They go for more expression, and more "awareness" from Buck. Buck, understands and responds to humans, with more purpose than most humans these days. Dan Stevens, is chewing the scenery as the bad guy, and there are few walk-on roles that while cliche', work just fine. All in all, The Call of the Wild is an average family film, with a solid performance from Harrison Ford. The book is timeless, but I'm not so sure how this adaptation will fare in time.