Call of the Wild is a surprisingly heartfelt film that puts the emotional core of the story into the paws of a massive CGI dog. While the effects may not work that well when he's juxtaposed with live-action actors, the film finds an emotional sweet spot when it focuses on the adventures of a dog finding itself in the deep north.

Based on the classic 1903 novel by Jack London, Call of the Wild is the tale of Buck, a dopey but friendly St. Bernard–Scotch Collie. After being raised in relative security all his life, Buck is kidnapped to be used in the Gold Rush, and ends up on a number of adventures in the deep north. Along the way, he encounters a pair of kindly mail couriers Perrault (Omar Sy) and Françoise (Cara Gee), a group of greedy socialites led by Hal (Dan Stevens) and a kindly old man named John (Harrison Ford) who came to the North to find himself after a tragic loss in his family.

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Directed by Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon) in his live-action debut, the digital effects prove to be a mixed bag. The film was shot primarily on sound stages with locations added in post-production with computer-generated effects, and it shows. The effects bristle when they're put up against live-action subjects, which can take the viewer out of the story. But when the movie focuses on the digital elements alone, it becomes significantly more engrossing.

At its best, Call of the Wild feels like a well-animated film about dogs with narration by Harrison Ford. Without the human cast to draw focus, the story centers on the characteristics of Buck and the other animals around him. The animators are able to imbue a great deal of personality into each one of them, using their eyes, ears and body language to communicate a great deal of information with ease. Buck's battle with another dog in the snow is a stand-out scene. It gives each CGI canine a strong sense of weight and personality and uses the occasional piece of narration to guide the scene.

The animation style makes the animal characters easier to read emotionally than, say, the ultra-realistic CGI animals of last year's The Lion King, and helps endear Buck and the other animals to the audience. Buck goes through a fairly engaging but obvious arc as he finds confidence and independence. Despite the perks of leadership or gaining freedom, there's a sadness to the way the adorable dog moves and observes the changing world around him that makes him feel like a fleshed-out character.

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The cast is made up of some of the best actors currently working in Hollywood, and almost all of them have previous experience in CGI-heavy films. Stevens acquits himself well as an admittedly one-note villain, while appearances by Karen Gillan and Colin Woodell are good but too brief. Sy and Gee have a fun back-and-forth with the dogs, but it's naturally Harrison Ford who gives the best performance of the human cast. There's a weariness to Ford's character that's to be expected, but he also finds a way to infuse the character with a slight sense of wonder and humanity that makes him stand out beyond what's written in the script.

This modern take on the material updates some elements of the original novel and fully ignores elements that haven't aged as well in the past century. However, the spirit of the story is still embodied by Buck and him journey to separate from the world he knew and become something different. At various points in the film, Buck has the literal spirit of the wild appear to him as a massive spectral black wolf, beckoning him further into the woods and away from humanity. It's a strong visual motif, and successfully tells a compelling story about the personal growth of the dog without any unnecessary dialogue or explanation. The movie isn't revolutionary, it retreads a long-beloved story with minor tweaks, but the agreeable live-action cast and the stellar all-animated moments elevate the film.

Directed by Chris Sanders, Call of the Wild stars Harrison Ford, Omar Sy, Cara Gee, Dan Stevens, Bradley Whitford, Karen Gillan and Colin Woodell. It comes to theaters Feb. 21.

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