Animated film passable but impassionate
The animated feature “Rock Dog” is the second Chinese-American co-production to hit U.S. theaters in as many weeks (after fantasy adventure “The Great Wall”). Director Ash Brannon brings Pixar and Sony bona fides (he co-directed “Toy Story 2” and directed “Surf’s Up”) to this adaptation of rocker Zheng Jun’s graphic novel “Tibetan Rock Dog,” which mixes Tibetan culture, contemporary Brit-rock and a splash of mob movies.
We start in a village on Snow Mountain, where a young mastiff, Bodi (Luke Wilson), and his dad, Khampa (J.K. Simmons), are tasked with guarding a bunch of ditsy sheep from a pack of hungry wolves. An opening sequence, rendered in a hand-drawn style, nods to traditional Chinese art and music and is narrated in a folksy manner by a mustachioed yak known as Fleetwood Yak (Sam Elliott).
We are dropped into this world without much context, and the drawn animation is soon set aside for serviceable computer animation. The characters aren’t fully expressive, and the environment and setting are boring — the frames and visual compositions lack background detail. When we’re used to animated features with high joke-density, both visual and written, “Rock Dog” is a serious downshift in energy Brannon. language) 1:20 at the Dublin Village 18, Easton 30, Grove City 14, Pickerington and River Valley theaters
and content.
Bodi discovers rock music on a radio dropped from a biplane and is soon obsessed with the tunes of Angus Scattergood. After a rift emerges with his father over playing music or protecting sheep, Bodi heads for “the city” to find his tribe. Through persistence, he connects with super-cool, super-isolated rocker Angus (Eddie Izzard), a lean, white, Wayfarered cat. Soon they’re writing songs and eluding capture by the wolves, who are now organized into a crime syndicate, running cage matches in the city while watching Snow Mountain for a chance to chow on lamb chops.
Although a mix of “Zootopia” and “Sing!,” with hints of “Kung Fu Panda,” seems like a great idea, the result is a strange combination. Those films created enormous, rich worlds, cultures and subcultures for anthropomorphic animals; there’s just not enough on the screen in “Rock Dog” to buy into it. It lacks the visual kinetics and energy we’ve come to expect from similar films.
Each scenario is more tortured and far-fetched than the last. It’s unclear why Bodi and his father have to guard the sheep. They have magical mastiff powers they are able to harness, kind of like Po the Panda, but it’s never fully articulated. Khampa runs Snow Mountain village like John Lithgow in “Footloose” — no music ever! Too dangerous. But that’s never motivated or fleshed out. Besides, if these wolves have cage-fighting to tend to, why would they want to eat the sheep on the mountain? The period, setting and character beats just don’t make sense.
“Rock Dog” is a perfectly fine and inoffensive afternoon at the movie theater, with a few great tunes — classics and originals — to boot. Noodle-limbed feline rocker Angus Scattergood is an inspired creation. But you’ll hardly be itching for a re-watch anytime soon — there’s just not enough there to inspire passion.