“The Call of the Wild” lives on the cutting edge of cinematography
With the use of the newest visual effects Chris Sanders’s “The Call of the Wild” brings out the vivid realism and colors that improve the story.
Chris Sanders’ “The Call of the Wild” brings out the authenticity of Jack London’s characters with vivid colors and amazing CGI.
The story is about Buck, a dog who has to move from the domestication of city life to the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s that lead him to become a sled dog. It is a tale of the dogs’ struggle of following a master’s instinct versus their own.
The book gives Buck a more wolf-like feeling when he tangles with the call of the wild. The novel still remains better than all the movies because Jack London better captured the 1890s Yukon.
In past film adaptations of The Call of The Wild, they used a Husky to be Buck, yet in the book and in the newest film they use the mix breed between a Scotch Shepherd and a St. Bernard which better represented the diversity of dogs used as sled dogs in the Yukon.
Even though they used real dogs to capture the image of what they wanted Buck and the other dogs to look like, they used 100% CGI to capture all the animals on screen. Motion capture artist Terry Notary plays Buck as he creates the human-like emotions in a dog.
“And then I met Buck. He was a dog like no other. He’s been spoiled, and he’s suffered. But he could not be broken,” said John Thorton of the emotions of Buck.
Harrison Ford, Omar Sy, and an ironically named dog Buckley steal the show with their illustrious talent and humor.
Harrison Ford plays John Thorton, a man who lives up in the Yukon trying to find himself. His interactions with Buck brings out their duo adventures in the Yukon.
Omar Sy plays Perrault Buck’s first owner as a mail carrier in the Yukon. Perrault struggles to teach Buck about being a sled dog leading to some humorous fails along the trail.
The film is very fast-paced with no stop in the action; the story of Buck keeps you constantly engaged. The length is only an hour and forty minutes, but it flies by faster than you think.
Chris Sanders’s “The Call of the Wild” is a film that is carried by its superior animation of life-like dogs and vivid colors of the landscape of the Yukon. I would recommend this film to fans of dog stories, and to people who enjoy history. Before or after watching the film you should read the book by Jack London to know where this film came from and how it has improved the story visually.
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Luke Krchak is an online reporter. This is his third year on staff. When he is outside of school he is either writing the next mystery/sci-fi novel, or...
