Rock Dog - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Rock Dog

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie

A film like Rock Dog is not something that you have to think too hard about. The trailer pretty much prepares you for everything that you’re going to see before you even see it. I saw the trailers for it last year and had already figured out 90% of the plot before I even sat down for my first viewing. Now, as a film that seems to be aimed directly at the younger generation, that’s not a bad thing. It’s a churning ice cream machine for money with pretty colors going in and a few musical numbers with kids going “oooooo!! and ahhhhh!!” over it. Well, LITTLE kids at least. Even though Rock Dog is not some direct to video film (although it might as well be, it was meant to be displayed on a wide theater release, but some issues with the largest Chinese theater chain in the East and some issues with post production meant it only had a limited run before vanishing from the public eye), it feels decidedly cheap and aimed at the single digit age bracket more than a big animated film would be.

Rock Dog’s name is enough to raise a few eyebrows, as it feels strangely hokey. It makes a bit more sense that the film is based off of a Chinese comic book called Tibetan Rock Dog, and clears up why so much of the scenario is set in Tibet and mainland China (even though everything is voiced like they’re in Los Angeles). In a far off little Tibetan village known as Snow Mountain there lives a group of sheep who are guarded over by mastiff dogs. The leader of these dogs is Khampa (J.K. Simmons) and his son, Bodi (Luke Wilson). They have made a little paradise for themselves there where the sheep are guarded by Khampa against the wolves of the mountain, and the group lives happily ever after. Naturally, the sheep are a bit dim, but Khampa’s job is to GUARD, not to judge. Sadly, Bodi is not much better than the sheep in his father’s eyes. Bodi wants to hang around and make music all day instead of learning the martial arts and fighting techniques that can be used to protect the village.

Realizing it’s a lost cause thanks to the wise old village Yak (Sam Elliott), Khampa lets his son go off to the big city where he can follow his dreams of becoming a rock star in the likes of Angus Scattergood (Eddie Izzard). Well, Bodi, in his naiveite, thing it’s going to be a lot easier than it really is. Happy go lucky and full of spunk, he tries to get in with the closest band he can think of, but gets shot down only to be fall in with Angus Scattergood himself completely by pure force of will. A situation that turns into a bit of a letdown when Angus steals Bodi’s one and only good song to stay relevant to his fans, AND has to try and dodge a cadre of wolves who are trying to get back into Snow Mountain after Khampa whipped his tail so thoroughly years ago.

Ehh, it is what it is. Rock Dog is a fairly derivative film that puts a lot of obvious enthusiasm into the making of the product, but the slim budget (as mentioned in the extras) and the lack of any real talent for the music creates something that really feels like it would make a DTV sequel to Balto or Alpha & Omega more than anything. The voice acting is pretty solid, but nothing really STANDS OUT, you might say. Luke Wilson his affable old self, while J.K. Simmons (who’s in everything these days I swear) does his best with the material at hand. Lewis Black is REALLY toned down as Linnux, the wolf pack leader, and the only who seems to be having a good time is good old Eddie Izzard. I wanted to like the film more than I did, but it’s not a movie you’re going to hate either. It’s just a movie that exists and does its job at entertaining the little kiddie winks for an hour and a half.




Rating:

Rated PG for action and language




Video:

If anything, Rock Dog is actually quite well animated for what seems like shoestring budget film. There’s some budget constraints, as confirmed in the special features where the director mentioned having to scale back the animation detail, but it’s still a pretty looking film with lots of bright colors. Half the time the movie tends to stay in darkness so those colors don’t get to shine ALL the time, but there’s plenty of forest greens, bright whites (mostly for angus) and some blue energy balls at the end that are enough to catch the eye. The detail itself is good, but never great, and there is some mild softness due to the mid tier animation styles used. Besides some banding that crops up here and there the film is artifact free and still a consistently pleasant viewing experience.






Audio:

Audio wise, the film fares much the same way as the video. It’s a solid entry that does everything cleanly and clearly, but due to budget constraints it doesn’t open up a WHOLE lot or have a really wide dynamic range. The voices are crisp and cleanly replicated in the center, and front soundstage takes care of most of the rest of the work. The surrounds do get some information with the generic rock music score (it’s one of those sound tracks that feels like they got no name songs because they couldn’t afford something recognizable), and the end battle with the wolves showcases some good discrete action, but the majority of the time we have a very dialog centric film with a lot of energy in the front of the room thanks to the mixing. The 5.1 mix does the job nicely and without incident, but doesn't rock you back in your seat.
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Extras:

• "Finding the Fire: The Making of Rock Dog" Featurette
• "Mic Check: Casting the Voices" Featurette
• "A Rockin' New World: Animating Rock Dog" Featurette
• "Rock Dog and Roll: Exploring the Music: Featurette
• "Glorious" Music Video

Final Score: ​

Rock Dog is one of those movies that just “is”. It’s not great, it’s not bad, it just coasts along on the well-worn clichés of many an animated film that has come before it. I give them props for the over exuberance and energy that was obviously displayed with the voice acting, but besides the very very young generation (under 8 I’d say), there’s not a whole lot going on to engage the viewer. The score is tepid, the story mediocre, BUT, it does have a lot of pretty colors and flashy rock sequences to ooh and ah the little ones. Predictability to the max. Audio and video are more than satisfactory, but the tepid story and weak extras doesn’t do much to offset that fact. Honestly, it works as a babysitter for really young kids, but not much else. Recommendation = “Meh”.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Luke Wilson, Eddie Izzard, J.K. Simmons
Directed by: Ash Brannon
Written by: Ash Brannon, Denise Bradley
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Spanish DD 5.1
Studio: Lionsgate
Rated: PG
Runtime: 90 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: May 23rd, 2017

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: "Meh"

 

[Todd Anderson]

Yikes... the cover alone!!!

 

[Sonnie Parker]

My idol... I've always wanted to play the gee-tar.

 

[Michael Scott]

lol!!!