While this film version is indeed a visually-pleasing family adventure epic, it is better suited for those who are not looking for any of Jack London's naturalistic tone. It is what I would deem The Call of the Wild-lite, meaning it does provide the gist of the original story without all of the violence and death.
In the original novel, violence and death are a part of daily existence in Buck's tumultuous experience, from watching a dog get ripped into literal shreds to committing acts of wild violence himself-at one point, he takes down a bull moose on his own. The latter is proof of his wolfish qualities rising to the surface. None of this is in the film.
Yet it is understandable to leave that level of violence out of what was intended to be a PG film from its inception, so I can forgive that much. What I cannot forgive is cutting scenes that were significant but had no gore or death-the sled pull competition or Buck saving Thornton from river rapids as two examples. Strange that Sanders created new storylines to fill the holes of what would have been exciting sequences. Oh well.
It's a fun watch, and definitely heartwarming. At least the ending is pretty faithful, and thank goodness it is the story of Buck and not Thornton for once (mostly).
In the original novel, violence and death are a part of daily existence in Buck's tumultuous experience, from watching a dog get ripped into literal shreds to committing acts of wild violence himself-at one point, he takes down a bull moose on his own. The latter is proof of his wolfish qualities rising to the surface. None of this is in the film.
Yet it is understandable to leave that level of violence out of what was intended to be a PG film from its inception, so I can forgive that much. What I cannot forgive is cutting scenes that were significant but had no gore or death-the sled pull competition or Buck saving Thornton from river rapids as two examples. Strange that Sanders created new storylines to fill the holes of what would have been exciting sequences. Oh well.
It's a fun watch, and definitely heartwarming. At least the ending is pretty faithful, and thank goodness it is the story of Buck and not Thornton for once (mostly).