Episode 726 - The Call of the Wild (2020)

Hi everyone!

Andrew’s taking the helm for today’s Matinee Monday, with a review from the debut offering from the recently renamed 20th Century Studios. Like that Fox brand might be toxic or something. Anyway, Andrew will be up in a minute with his review of THE CALL OF THE WILD. Don’t miss Andrew’s other recent reviews for BLISS (Episode #723), SCHOOL’S OUT (Episode #716), and COME TO DADDY (Episode #709). None of those are family films, by the way. Not even COME TO DADDY.

Before the review, we’ll have a promo from our good friends at the Book of Lies Podcast. Every week, Brandi Fleeks and Sunni Hepburn take a look at a fraud case or famous con artist, breaking down the methods, the signals, and how to spot similar scams in your life. You can find them on Twitter @Bookofliespod and on Facebook and Instagram @bookofliespodcast. Be sure to like, retweet, share, review, and subscribe!

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Here we go!

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Hello film fans!

Andrew here, pinch-hitting today with... a Disney film. Don’t worry, I’ll be back on Friday with my usual dose of death and destruction. One of the perks to being an accredited film critic (well, actually, the only perk) is access to check out the occasional film at a press-screening or through a screener link or on DVD during awards season. Somehow, I didn’t even know of the existence of today’s film until I got my invite to go check it out at arguably Austin’s dingiest theater - remarkable, considering the budget was in the $150M range. What secured my RSVP was the ability to bring along my three kids and gauge their response to a film that has been marketed to both parents and children.

Today’s movie is THE CALL OF THE WILD (2020), with a screenplay by Michael Green based on the Jack London novel, directed by Chris Sanders. THE CALL OF THE WILD tells the story of Buck, a St. Bernard / Scotch Collie mix and his adventures in the late 19th Century. After Buck is abducted from his mischievous life on a bucolic California estate, he’s shipped by boat up to the Yukon territory on the US-Canadian border. Buck is soon acquired by a kind couple in charge of delivering mail to the remote Alaskan town of Skagway. At first a reluctant member of a sled dog team, Buck begins to learn life lessons, as all dogs do, maturing and gaining confidence along the way. And I haven’t even gotten to the Harrison Ford part yet.

Director Chris Sanders has three other directorial efforts to his name, all of which are animated - LILO & STITCH, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON and THE CROODS. This makes a ton of sense after the fact as the film is live action except for the dogs and a few other animals you meet along the way. The sequences that rely heavily on the animals feel very much like a cartoon, albeit a well-crafted one, though thankfully none of the animals talk or provide the narration. Harrison Ford steps into the narrator role and does excellent work. Ford is always such a curmudgeon in real life that I was worried the whole film would feel like he was just showing up for a Disney payday, but his voice feels genuine, keeping the larger narrative aloft until his on-camera role expands in the second half of the picture.

Dan Stevens and Karen Gillan appear as well, but feel miscast as the film’s villains. Bradley Whitford kicks off the story as Buck’s original owner in another strange bit of casting, putting a noteworthy actor in a role that barely outlasts the film’s credits. And the unsung hero is motion-capture actor Terry Notary who apparently stood in for Buck. I didn’t learn this until after the film and it’s certainly not apparent during the viewing, but hey, that’s good work if you can get it.

One minor complaint is that the story itself feels more episodic rather than having a traditional three-act structure. Maybe it’s just because we are in the age of peak TV, but the whole thing might have worked better as 6-episode Disney+ series. Almost a full hour goes by before Buck inevitably hooks up with Ford’s John Thornton and it feels like everything prior is just a lead-up to this point.

The primary problem with THE CALL OF THE WILD is that it tries too hard to be everything to everyone. The source material is not as light-hearted as the film would have you believe. The film features a number of violent scenes, even including some ambiguous allusions to death, though it sands down the corners to deliver the sanitized Disney version that audiences expect. (Incidentally, I have heard the live-action MULAN remake will be PG-13 and I am curious to see what that means for both the film itself as well as the box office). What did not work for me, for at least the first hour, was the juxtaposition of a rugged survival tale with humanized dogs that are uncannily expressive. I get that much of what was required of the dogs in this film probably could not have been done with actual animals, but it feels like the CGI went one step too far, making Buck in particular feel more like a cartoon animal living in the real world.

What makes THE CALL OF THE WILD fantastic? THE CALL OF THE WILD is not afraid to take its time. There are just enough action scenes to keep the kids engaged and plenty of slapstick comedy, but there are also more moments of reflection (quiet or narrated) than you’re used to seeing a modern family film. My viewing experience recalled how I felt watching family adventure films growing up in the 1980s, like THE JOURNEY OF NATTY GANN, CHEETAH, or the made-for-tv movie STONE FOX. I really enjoyed experiencing this one with my kids, which has to be a much better sit than subjecting them to SONIC THE HEDGEHOG or the critically-derided DOOLITTLE.

THE CALL OF THE WILD is a throwback family film that provides ample, if not particularly memorable, entertainment for all ages. Fans of adventure films that merge live action and CGI-animation such as THE JUNGLE BOOK or PETE’S DRAGON will enjoy this film.

Rotten Tomatoes: 70%

Metacritic: 53

One Movie Punch: 7.6/10

THE CALL OF THE WILD (2020) is rated PG and is playing in theaters.

Come back on Friday and we’ll get back to the wild ways of Fantastic Fest with JALLIKATTU. In a rural Indian village, a buffalo has broken loose, damaging the town while mobs of men begin to form, seeking to restore order. You’ve seen movies with every other kind of killer animal, so why not a buffalo!

See you then.