Good advice in lots of areas, to be sure. Without a doubt, special effects continue to improve and the lines between what is real and what has been created in a computer are becoming more blurred by the day. A recent example is the remake of The Lion King. A serviceable, but largely unpopular retelling of the classic animated story. The CGI was actually quite good but there’s something about it that just doesn’t pass the eye test. The Call of the Wild falls into the same trap. A classic story by Jack London adapted for the big screen using CGI in nearly every scene….and not very good at that. Anyone who saw the trailers could tell that the effects just weren’t that good.
So, by all that you’d probably think I didn’t like it at all. Surprisingly, mostly to myself, I liked it quite a bit more than I thought I would.
Here’s your fair warning. This is more than just a review of the movie and you’ll see why if you keep reading. First a few caveats. Yes, the CGI was bad. Yes, Harrison Ford looks more like David Letterman Claus than Han Solo. The good guys and bad guys are extreme caricatures. The story has plot holes that you can drive a truck through….BUT I got to see this movie in a time warp from 35 years ago and there’s no doubt that that had a large effect on my enjoyment of the movie.
It’s February 2020, and I had been in the process of moving my mom from Minnesota to Iowa. I didn’t get a chance to see a movie the previous week. (please don’t tell anyone) This week I didn’t think I would see one either. First because I was in Keokuk, Iowa and second because there wasn’t anything out that I wanted to see that was within literally 50 miles.
Since I needed the brain-cleansing that going to the movies gives me, I decided to see The Call of the Wild at the only theater in town. A 3-screen “multi-plex” showing Sonic, Fantasy Island and TCOTW. Since I have zero interest in Sonic and I had already seen Fantasy Island, TCOTW it was.
Let me set the scene a little. It’s a Saturday night, one of the busiest movie times of the week. The Plaza 3 Cinema is 1 of 2 remaining businesses left in the River City Mall in town. {UPDATE: THERE ARE NOW ZERO BUSINESSES IN THE RIVER CITY MALL BECAUSE THE THEATER AND THE GORDMANS ARE NOW CLOSED TOO.} There are no signs outside and unless you study Google maps, you’ll never find it and even using Google maps it ain’t easy. The evening showtime was 7:00 PM. Got there at 6:30 to avoid A last minute rush. Needless to say, there was no “rush”. I found the ticket window, not an easy feat, and asked for a ticket for The Call of the Wild. The cost (on a Saturday night, remember) was a total of FIVE AMERICAN DOLLARS! The teenager asked if I wanted to upgrade to add popcorn and pop for $8. No, not $8 for the pop and/or the popcorn, that’s $8 for ticket, popcorn and pop. I already felt like I was stealing from the kid and even though I had just eaten, I said, “Sure”. I got my concessions and entered the theater, or should I say, I went back in time to 1980. A lot of people reading this (ok, that was a joke. A lot of people don’t read this so just go along with me, ok?) don’t know what it was like to go into a movie theater with a screen in the front and 25 rows of 15 seats across for as far as the eye could see. No stadium seating and the only reclining was the 3 inches that your seat leaned back. The concrete floors, carpet on the walls and stained ceiling tile was identical to what the movie experience was like 40 years ago. There was no way I was going to be disappointed going to this movie. Yes, the seat was uncomfortable and I’m not even going to think what might have happened in it over the last 40 years but I sat 8 rows back, dead center and watched The Call of the Wild. 2 quick trailers and then the movie began.
Like I said, an ok story with a very old looking Harrison Ford and a bad cartoon dog but it caught my attention. In fact, it did something that even the superior 1917 and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood couldn’t. it made me forget the technical issues of the movie, unlike the others. I’ll cautiously recommend it with the above warnings, but for me, it was a very enjoyable night at the movies.
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”
Good advice in lots of areas, to be sure. Without a doubt, special effects continue to improve and the lines between what is real and what has been created in a computer are becoming more blurred by the day. A recent example is the remake of The Lion King. A serviceable, but largely unpopular retelling of the classic animated story. The CGI was actually quite good but there’s something about it that just doesn’t pass the eye test. The Call of the Wild falls into the same trap. A classic story by Jack London adapted for the big screen using CGI in nearly every scene….and not very good at that. Anyone who saw the trailers could tell that the effects just weren’t that good.
So, by all that you’d probably think I didn’t like it at all. Surprisingly, mostly to myself, I liked it quite a bit more than I thought I would.
Here’s your fair warning. This is more than just a review of the movie and you’ll see why if you keep reading. First a few caveats. Yes, the CGI was bad. Yes, Harrison Ford looks more like David Letterman Claus than Han Solo. The good guys and bad guys are extreme caricatures. The story has plot holes that you can drive a truck through….BUT I got to see this movie in a time warp from 35 years ago and there’s no doubt that that had a large effect on my enjoyment of the movie.
It’s February 2020, and I had been in the process of moving my mom from Minnesota to Iowa. I didn’t get a chance to see a movie the previous week. (please don’t tell anyone) This week I didn’t think I would see one either. First because I was in Keokuk, Iowa and second because there wasn’t anything out that I wanted to see that was within literally 50 miles.
Since I needed the brain-cleansing that going to the movies gives me, I decided to see The Call of the Wild at the only theater in town. A 3-screen “multi-plex” showing Sonic, Fantasy Island and TCOTW. Since I have zero interest in Sonic and I had already seen Fantasy Island, TCOTW it was.
Let me set the scene a little. It’s a Saturday night, one of the busiest movie times of the week. The Plaza 3 Cinema is 1 of 2 remaining businesses left in the River City Mall in town. {UPDATE: THERE ARE NOW ZERO BUSINESSES IN THE RIVER CITY MALL BECAUSE THE THEATER AND THE GORDMANS ARE NOW CLOSED TOO.} There are no signs outside and unless you study Google maps, you’ll never find it and even using Google maps it ain’t easy. The evening showtime was 7:00 PM. Got there at 6:30 to avoid A last minute rush. Needless to say, there was no “rush”. I found the ticket window, not an easy feat, and asked for a ticket for The Call of the Wild. The cost (on a Saturday night, remember) was a total of FIVE AMERICAN DOLLARS! The teenager asked if I wanted to upgrade to add popcorn and pop for $8. No, not $8 for the pop and/or the popcorn, that’s $8 for ticket, popcorn and pop. I already felt like I was stealing from the kid and even though I had just eaten, I said, “Sure”. I got my concessions and entered the theater, or should I say, I went back in time to 1980. A lot of people reading this (ok, that was a joke. A lot of people don’t read this so just go along with me, ok?) don’t know what it was like to go into a movie theater with a screen in the front and 25 rows of 15 seats across for as far as the eye could see. No stadium seating and the only reclining was the 3 inches that your seat leaned back. The concrete floors, carpet on the walls and stained ceiling tile was identical to what the movie experience was like 40 years ago. There was no way I was going to be disappointed going to this movie. Yes, the seat was uncomfortable and I’m not even going to think what might have happened in it over the last 40 years but I sat 8 rows back, dead center and watched The Call of the Wild. 2 quick trailers and then the movie began.
Like I said, an ok story with a very old looking Harrison Ford and a bad cartoon dog but it caught my attention. In fact, it did something that even the superior 1917 and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood couldn’t. it made me forget the technical issues of the movie, unlike the others. I’ll cautiously recommend it with the above warnings, but for me, it was a very enjoyable night at the movies.