Rev Rank: 4/5
“Call of the Wild” might seem like your average Yukon dog story, but warms the hearts of everyone watching.
The movie follows the story, Buck, a dog who was kidnapped from a wealthy family and sold to many owners. The pup was forced to endure hardships and pain in order to find his true calling.
Buck is your average trouble-making dog with a big heart. Throughout the movie, you see his journey—watching him struggle, love and fight. This movie not only sympathizes and shows how resilient and caring dogs are but teaches people a valuable lesson as well.
After being kidnapped, Buck winds up in the hands of Françoise (Cara Gee) and Perrault (Omar Sy). Thought his time running with a dog sled for Perrault, who was employed by the U.S. postal service, Buck first hears his inner wolf. This wild side of Buck continuously gets him into sticky situations and helps him find his inner alpha dog. Buck then realizes he is truly meant to be a leader.
Alongside Buck, we also meet his companion and best friend, John Thornton. A rough and tough man running away from his past, played by Harrison Ford, John always shows up whenever Buck needs him the most. When Buck is being abused and mistreated by his owners, John Thornton shows up defending the courageous K-9. “Call of the Wild” shows that dogs really are a man’s best friend.
No matter how close Buck and John become, he always encouraged the dog to explore and find himself. Of course, there is a big battle at the climax of the movie, which jerked tears from everyone watching, but it became an essential part of Buck’s journey. The movie, however, while succeeding in storytelling, failed drastically in the CGI area.
Throughout the entire movie, it was extremely noticeable that Buck was a CGI character rather than a real-life dog. The acting and production of the movie made up for what the CGI lacked, yet it still became distracting at times. Buck, while not looking real, still won over the hearts of everyone.
So yes, “Call of the Wild” is just another dog movie to some, but it paw-sitively changes the game for all.
