The Call of the Wild (2020)

What makes The Call of the Wild special is its big, earnest heart: it’s an old-fashioned adventure that treats a dog’s awakening to the wilderness like a genuine coming-of-age story, not a gimmick. Chris Sanders gives the Yukon a storybook grandeur—snow, danger, and wonder—while keeping the tone welcoming enough for families, and Harrison Ford brings a weathered tenderness that grounds the film’s emotions in something human and lived-in. It’s the kind of movie that wants you to feel the cold air, the thrill of the trail, and the ache of loyalty, and it earns those feelings without cynicism. Fair warning: there’s some upsetting animal mistreatment and peril along the way, but if you can handle that, you’ll find a warm, rousing crowd-pleaser about finding where you truly belong.

The Call of the Wild (2020) is clearly aiming for a warm, family-friendly adventure about resilience and finding your place, with Harrison Ford doing his best to give it some old-school heart. The problem is the heavily CGI-rendered Buck: instead of pulling you into the Yukon, it can feel like you’re watching a very expensive animated cutscene, which blunts the emotion and the danger. The storytelling is streamlined and softened, so if you’re expecting the harsher, more primal bite of Jack London’s novel, this may come off as tidy and formulaic. If you can accept the artificial look and just want a gentle, scenic survival tale with a few tense moments (including animal mistreatment), it’s serviceable—but it’s not the raw classic some viewers are hoping for.