Say goodbye to 20th Century Fox and hello to 20th Century Studios…
—a division of the Walt Disney Company.
Permit me to explain.
“THE CALL OF THE WILD” is probably the last major motion picture produced by 20th Century Fox, which had planned to release it this past Christmas.
Then came the sale of Fox to Disney—which already had “STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER” and “SPIES IN DISGUISE” set for the holidays. So Disney moved “THE CALL OF THE WILD” back to open on February 21st.
….as for the picture?
“THE CALL OF THE WILD” is the latest edition of Jack London’s 1903 literary classic which has enjoyed many updated screen versions. Some of them have included Hollywood greats such as Clark Gable, Loretta Young and Charlton Heston.
This weekend it’s Harrison Ford’s turn to join in the timeless dog-gone adventure—and he does it proud.
Let’s be honest about it, the real star here is Buck, the St. Bernard-Scotch Collie who steals practically every scene in which he appears.
Buck is Harrison Ford’s big-hearted, beloved co-star, whose domesticated home life is turned upside down when he becomes transplanted to the exotic wilds of the Yukon where he experiences the adventure of a lifetime.
It all goes down during the Gold Rush of the 1890’s.
What we have here is a solid PG-rated adventure for the family, which all age groups will enjoy—although several images could frighten some very young viewers.
There IS an aspect of the film that took me a while to get used too.
That being that Buck (and other animals) aren’t real at all.
They are photorealistic CGI creations and do things on the screen that no real animal could’ve been trained to perform. (Hence no animals were injured in the making of the film.)
Once I got over my initial technical angst, I just sat back and enjoyed myself. And I think YOU will too!
“THE CALL OF THE WILD” opens wide and grades a solid B
