The Call of The Wild (2020)

Let us not kid ourselves, Harrison Ford is not a stranger to partnering with a dog on screen. Look, I am not insulting Chewbacca…he was inspired by George Lucas’ Alaskan Mameluke, which was called Indiana, which was Ford’s name in The Raiders of The Ark.

To summarise that, Ford has now been paired again with a furry canine which was based on a dog that has the same name as Ford in Raiders Of The Lost Ark and the sequels. Get it? Are we clear? Can we move on? Wait…ah, fudge it!

That’s right, based on my curse word, you can safely assume that this is a very safe flick. It was produced by Disney and you are assured of the best cute, heart-warming, fuzzy, hot cocoa during cold night moments in this film. If you like a movie about a man and his relationship with a dog, in this case, a St Bernard collie.

There is no excessive violence, no curse words, no strong tension….and what will intrigue you if you haven’t been watching CGI creatures the last three decades is that the dog is entirely computer-generated.

Speaking of the three decades, if you are like me, there is a tendency for you to notice the slight unnatural movement or the overtly natural facial expressions on the big dog. You might be finicky, anal in the beginning, but like me, I hope, you will get along with the story and will love the big doggy.

I am not a dog lover by any chance, I am a cat person, which means I am evil naturally. But that’s a story for another day, and I tell you this: Ford works well with furry creatures. I mean, working with a “walking carpet”, reacting to it as humanely as possible is one thing, but spending shitload of time being intimate with a tennis ball at the end of the stick is another entirely.

There was easy chemistry between Ford and the doggy as it developed over time…as the furry one slowly melts the crusty old man’s heart. The dog itself starts to develop its character in front of us and manages to sit in well in our consciousness as a lovable creature that was lost in the beginning and was leading in the end.

I admit that being a non-dog lover (no, not a hater), I took some time to warm up to Buck, the dog. But the team behind its pixelated creation managed to pull off the most unbelievable thing, they actually made it have strong chemistry with Ford’s character so much so that you will get emotional at crucial moments.

I have not read Jack London’s novel, so I can’t quite talk about how faithful it is…that is beside the point. The film was lovingly shot, in a gold rush era winter, and is about how this dog, starting out meek like and later err…mans up to the point that it was able to lead a team of sledge-pulling fellow CGI dogs. You may form an attachment to the CGI dog as Ford has, but I couldn’t help but remind me that it was not real…that is not helpful information, or it would have made the experience much more fun and emotional as it was supposed to as the movie started to close in on Ford’s relationship with it.

And so, I have a mixed feeling about this film. It is a wonderfully warm film about the relationship between man and dog if you haven’t seen other wonderfully warm firm about the relationship between man and dog. And as a fan of Ford’s…. I felt he was okay but too iconic in our eyes to see him especially in vulnerable spots. But that’s my fault.

And so, the heart-warming aspect will tickle your fancy, especially kids though they may find some part boring. Otherwise, this is not an award-bait film, and neither is it going to be remembered when Ford gets his Lifetime Achievement Award…oh, he got it already. Damn.