Staring : Karen Gillan, Harrison Ford, Cara Gee
Written by Michael Green, Directed by Chris Sanders
Every generation deserves a good dog movie, or at least one that they can call their own. For me my dog movies involved heartbreak and dogs that were heroes, you know the kind of best friend who would rescue a boy who fell down a well kind of hero. Dog movies though have come a long way since then, I mean now they don’t even have to use a real dog, but what hasn’t changed is the sense of adventure these movies can bring. The Call of the Wild has the look that screams adventure, I mean it’s right there in the title, but will its bark end of being more than its bite?
Buck is what you would call a spoiled dog. You see in his house, the home of a very important man, he tends to run things, but for anyone who has ever owned a dog they like to cross that line in the sand just to see what they can get away with. Well Buck has found that line in the form of ruining a family outing and his punishment is to sleep outside, something that will change his life direction. You see some dogs are used for people trying to find gold in the Klondike and someone thinks Buck will fetch a pretty penny so Buck is taken and sold. Once he arrives in the Klondike, Buck is bought to help pull a sled where he learns the way of the land and soon sets himself apart from the other dogs in the pack. Life though brings even more changes and when the sled is no longer needed he finds himself rescued by a man named John (Harrison Ford) who seems to be in the need of a companion like Buck. Together they set out on an adventure that will help them both discover where they belong.
Han and Chewie jokes notwithstanding, coming into a film that choose to create its dog rather than use a real one, made me wonder what I would be in for. For the most part, the CGI dog works, only sometimes showing its flaws. This shows that while amazing, CGI is not perfect yet. What is pretty close to perfect is this adventure that has everything, including a bad guy with a handle bar mustache. There is no confusion on who you are rooting for and no matter what the situation is you are squarely on team Buck. I as a lover of dogs and the type of adventure found in The Call of the Wild an almost perfect call and one that the whole family can get behind. With moments that will make you grab hold of your seats and too many that just will make you smile , this is a doggone good dog movie. This is not a movie you will have beg anyone to see, so take the family or go alone because it don’t matter as you are about to have a new friend named Buck.