The Call of the Wild (2020)

When your co-star is an uncanny valley nightmare


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🎥 Opening

Let’s start with showing you all the trailers, shall we?

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Non-Spoiler Thoughts

This movie is such a weird contradiction. On one hand, it’s visually stunning — sweeping shots of snowy landscapes, rivers, mountains, and a kind of magical “storybook” vibe. The cinematography has this old-school, wholesome warmth that feels like it wants to be a cozy family film. On the other hand… that CGI dog.

Let’s be real: Buck looks terrible. He doesn’t look like a dog — he looks like a video game NPC who wandered into a live-action movie. Every time Harrison Ford looks into Buck’s eyes and gives an emotional monologue, you want to be moved, but it’s impossible to take seriously when Buck’s fur moves like rubber and his face looks like something out of Shrek 2.

The problem is, this isn’t just nitpicking — the entire movie hinges on you believing in Buck. His journey is the story. If he doesn’t feel real, nothing does. And he never feels real. The CGI undercuts every sad beat, every heartfelt moment, every ounce of tension.

So what’s left? Gorgeous vibes, Harrison Ford giving his all, and a story that is sometimes wholesome but honestly leans way more depressing than it lets on.


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Character Breakdown 🐺👴

Buck (the dog) – The heart of the story, but brought down by bargain-bin CGI. He’s supposed to embody resilience, instinct, and growth, but comes off cartoonish. You never forget he’s fake.

John Thornton (Harrison Ford) – An absolute powerhouse. Gruff, broken, grieving, but still tender. He’s the one thing anchoring the movie to reality.

Supporting Cast – Thin, forgettable, and really just filler. This is a two-character story, and the rest barely register.



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Pacing & Vibes

The pacing is okay — it moves you from Buck’s comfortable beginnings into tragedy, then to survival, then finally freedom. But the vibe is where the contradiction really lives. The cinematography feels wholesome, almost Disney-esque, yet the story is straight-up depressing. Dogs being beaten, lost, chained, and killed. Harrison Ford dying. Buck left alone. The “happy” ending is him running off with wolves because every human he’s loved has died. Cozy family film? Not quite.


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Why the CGI? 🖥️🐕

Disney used CGI after the backlash over A Dog’s Purpose (2017), when leaked behind-the-scenes footage showed a dog allegedly forced into unsafe conditions. After that, studios were terrified of using real animals in high-profile productions. So The Call of the Wild went all-in on CGI.

In theory, good intentions. In execution? It doesn’t work. Dogs have micro-expressions, subtle eye movements, real presence. CGI Buck is dead behind the eyes, like an animatronic with an overclocked graphics card. It makes every emotional scene feel hollow.

Con – The CGI Dog From The Uncanny Valley 🐕💻
Okay, let’s just rip the band-aid off: this dog doesn’t look real. At all. The fur looks like it was combed by a PlayStation 3 graphics card, the way it moves is stiff, and the eyes… oh man, the eyes. They’re supposed to sell you on emotion, but instead they scream “placeholder asset not finished in time.” You never once believe this is a living, breathing animal—it looks like a soulless video game model dropped into a real set. And the problem with Call of the Wild is that it’s an emotional story. When your main character is a dog, and the dog looks fake, that instantly shatters the connection. Instead of crying or cheering for Buck, you’re just sitting there going: “Wow… that’s a very expensive cartoon.”

Pro, well, the scenery is gorgeous. I’ll give you that plus harrison ford does a good job.


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Final Thoughts

This should’ve been a wholesome, old-fashioned adventure about a dog’s resilience and the bond between man and beast. Instead, it feels like a tug-of-war between gorgeous cinematography and bargain-bin effects. Is it wholesome? Occasionally, sure. But more often, it’s depressing. By the end, you don’t feel uplifted — you just feel sad and weirdly disconnected.

Rating: 6/10


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⚠️ Spoilers Ahead ⚠️

The movie wastes no time throwing Buck into misery. He’s stolen from his cushy home and thrown into the brutal life of a sled dog. He’s whipped, chained, starved, and beaten. For kids who came expecting “fun dog adventure,” this is rough.

As Buck adapts, he slowly becomes leader of the sled team, proving himself through strength and loyalty. But even those victories are undercut by the CGI — his growls and movements look more like a cartoon than a creature fighting for survival.

Things lighten a bit when Buck bonds with John Thornton (Harrison Ford). Their companionship is tender and feels genuine because Ford sells it. Their friendship provides the only true warmth in the film — scenes of them camping, surviving, and finding purpose together. But you can’t get too comfortable, because the story is marching toward tragedy.

The third act goes darker than most “family” movies would dare. Thornton is gunned down by hostile men, leaving Buck alone once more. It’s not graphic, but the weight of it lands heavy. Watching Harrison Ford collapse hits hard because he’s the emotional core of the whole movie.

And then the ending: Buck leaves humanity behind and joins a pack of wolves. On paper, it’s triumphant — he’s answered the call of the wild. In execution, it’s bittersweet and borderline depressing. The dog you’ve been following for two hours has lost everything, and instead of a cozy reunion, you get snowy solitude.


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Comparison to the Book 📖

Jack London’s The Call of the Wild was never a cheerful story. It’s about nature’s brutality, survival, and the pull between civilization and instinct. The movie stays true to that in broad strokes but sands off the edges to stay “PG.”

The book is even darker — Buck isn’t just joining wolves, he’s surrendering to instinct, becoming wild and violent. The movie tries to make that ending feel like a fairytale, but the underlying message is still grim.


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👉 So yeah, if you ask me: The Call of the Wild (2020) looks gorgeous, has some wholesomeness sprinkled in, but overall it’s just depressing with an uncanny valley dog ruining what could’ve been a heartfelt adaptation.