I wrote this movie up once and then my computer locked up and I lost it. Bummer.
Anyhow... Did I enjoy it? Yes, mostly. I'm not a great fan of the book, but anyone who is will probably like this movie. They've added backstory for John Thornton's character. Storyline? Big dog is kidnapped from his easy family life and shipped to the Yukon to be sold as a sled dog during the Klondike gold rush of the 1890s. He passes through several hands before coming to a good place. Harrison Ford (Thornton) is delightfully grizzled, and basically saved the film for me. Omar Sy and Cara Gee are also excellent as the couple who cover the arduous mail route by dog sled and who give Buck his first taste of kindness and responsibility. Pity about Dan Stevens who portrays the main antagonist as a pantomime villain. The cinematography is lovely; It was actually filmed in the Yukon and British Columbia, which is a bonus.
What troubled me was the dog, Buck, who was played by several million pixels. He was totally CGI, and though mostly fine, was just a little bit too 'uncanny valley' for me. I do wish they'd had a real dog and integrated CGI rather than relying on it completely.
I had to check for Disney involvement (there wasn't any) because the dog was totally anthropomorphised, to the extent he could have been a cartoon character interacting with real people. The animators conferred too many human emotions on to the dog, and also too much understanding of human speech and intentions. How many dogs do you know who would give their dinner to a deprived pack-mate? I'm afraid that kind of altruism simply isn't in a dog's skill set. Maybe only those of us who have big dogs in the family would clock that. For me that made the whole thing feel just a little bit off.
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jacey
