Jenny Merk

This was the most appalling adaptation I’ve ever seen, with mind boggling changes from the original. I fully understand that the book being almost 120 years old means that it’s aggressive and questionable in it’s messages, however, this Disney-esque interpretation of the dog, Buck, (who in the book kills to survive his harsh new environment in the Yukon) being a kind pacifist in the movie leads to some laughably unrealistic moments. The book has no lasting antagonists, making Buck’s internal conflict, his work in the cold Yukon, and his relationships with his owners the main source of interest in the story. The movie decides that the story needs antagonists to create conflict, but forgets to do anything new or interesting with them. Spitz, (who in the book is killed by Buck early) is an antagonist in the movie, who Buck decides to spare out of generosity. Spitz also never returns in the movie, so it makes no sense why they would make this change only to not do anything with it. They also make the character, Hal, an antagonist throughout the movie. In the book, Hal is one of Buck’s owners, who knows nothing about how to successfully care for a dog team, or survive in the Arctic, and therefore dies after falling through thin ice. In the movie, despite Hal having poor survival skills, he lives and hunts/attempts to kill Buck and his owner John Thornton. He actually ends up succeeding, just before dying by fire. This makes absolutely no sense, as John Thornton is highly experienced, yet is somehow bested by a maniacal idiot. This removes so much emotional impact from the scene, as it’s so baffling that I can’t even feel sad. There’s so much else I could comment on, such as the absence of the dog Curly, all the dogs surviving, the hilariously bad writing and the human features of the dogs, but if I tried to fully analyze it I’d be typing all night… Anyways TLDR- this movie tries so hard to make it appeal to a wider audience, that it completely forgets the “wild” point of the original. It leaves out important parts, and includes unnecessary conflict. Bad writing, worse CGI. Jack London would be rolling in his grave.