It is so aggressively inoffensive and straightforward that you can watch it will any family member of any age and get away unscathed. And it's been released early as a digital rental so it's there for the screening.
It's a very earnest adaptation with a moving, committed performance from a very game Harrison Ford at its center, but it doesn't rise above its kid movie constraints enough to become the standout movie it could have been.
As has been oft discussed -- the CGI in this movie is distractingly subpar --that was evident when the first trailers dropped. I have no problem with them not using a real dog -- the story couldn't be told without asking a dog to give too much of a performance than they're capable of, but this many years after Life of Pi so beautifully and effectively evoked a tiger, I am mystified by the choice to render the character of Buck like a mix of a cartoon and a real animal.
In some shots the effects are impressive but in others they feel cheap, which is odd considering the fact that this was a huge budget movie (and unfortunately it took a big hit from coronavirus at the box office) with the Disney folks involved.So much of the film hangs on our emotional investment in Buck (and the other dogs he encounters) and while the animated character is cute enough, there's no life behind his eyes.
I kept thinking of the new Planet of the Apes movies which feature some of the best digital characterizations I've ever seen. They used motion capture to create their world, and Im not sure what happened here, but it's a bummer.
I also think the movie missed a very easy storytelling fix which could have made for a far more interesting movie. For some reason the choice is made to not only use Ford as the hero, but to also make him an omniscient narrator, a decision that feels lazy and illogical.
I think the movie would have been far more cinematic and engaging if it had no narrator at all -- it it were truly told from Buck's perspective. Sure, it might ask more of audiences to piece together the narrative based on Buck's adventures and encounters with other dogs, but it would have been a lot more interesting than having every single emotion and moment spelled out for you.
If you strip out that narration and let the story unfold in a less structured way, it would also make the conceit of people routinely talking to Buck as if he were a person less ludicrous in a way.
That being said, it's a sweet movie and if, like me, you are a dog lover it's hard not to be effected by the dramatic ups and downs of Buck's story. It's also wonderful to see Ford in fighting form at nearly 80 years old. He hasn't been in a movie since his fantastic supporting turn in Blade Runner 2049 and I've missed his grizzled premise. Here, he's playing one of the nicer characters in his filmography and he somehow seems handsomer and lighter on his feet than he has in years.
I'd love to see him continue to experiment with his persona instead of trying to force another Indiana Jones to work (I am increasingly beginning to doubt that a fifth film in that saga could or should happen... unless the MacGuffin is the Fountain of Youth). He's always been under-appreciated as actor and the fact that he is never awkward playing almost entirely off of a computer generated dog speaks volumes of his range and talent.
I just wish he had a better, more real-looking dog to work with.
If this film had trusted London's narrative movie and made the movie a little harder edged, I think families could have still had fun with it, and it might have resonated more.
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