Rock Dog (2017)

Tibetan sheep dogs have protected their valley from the wolves over the years. Bodi (Luke Wilson) is expected to follow his father's footsteps. One day, a crate falls out of a passing plane. Bodi finds a radio among the stuff and he is taken immediately with the rock music idolizing rock god Angus Scattergood. He leaves the valley for the big city to follow his dream. Wolf leader Linnux orders his kidnapping. I didn't realize that this is a Chinese animation with the western looking DVD cover. I thought that this was a second tier kids' movie. I don't mind the Chinese village motif at the beginning and then Bodi leaves for a big generic city. That's when the possible interesting Chinese animation turns completely generic and forgettable. There is a bit of timeless fun and magic about the village, and later actual magic from his music. The movie would work much better to stay in the village and stay with the fun timeless magic. It should be one thing or another. Honestly, I didn't realize that the village exists in the modern world. It spends enough time building the world of the valley that it loses the fun once Bodi goes to the modern city. It's really two different world that exists in two different movies. Otherwise, it's a generic animation of generic characters doing generic things.

I loved this film the second I saw the previews to it. It's got such a good story, lovable characters, great plot. Why is everyone hating on this film and why does the reviews and all say it's a bad film? This is a good film. Bodi is so adorable that I want to hug him and pinch his cheeks and spoil him, Angus may have came off as stuck up and mean at first but he did turn out to be a good guy after all when he realized he wasn't very nice to poor Bodi and went to apologize to him for how he treated him, Darma is so compassionate towards Bodi, I can tell from the looks of it those two will end up as a couple, Germur may be forgetful at times but lots of us are, but he's great with people and is a good guy, Trey is a mean jerk and he got what he deserved, Khampa. Bodi's dad, I'll admit, he's a bit strict and maybe he shouldn't turn down music and deny people's freedom but he's a good dad and at least realizes Bodi found his calling and that he found his fire, the villains at least were defeated, Riff and Skozz are like the classic funny brothers that get into classically funny situations, even though they were evil, I felt happy that Riff and Skozz joined the side of good and are now good people who work for good old Khampa and Bodi and the other heroes, I really like Fleetwood, sure he's old but he's a wise, cool old guy, he could be like a grandpa figure towards Bodi and his friends. I could easily see myself as a character in this film as a young teenage male lion, sure with a lot of hair but also joining Bodi, his friends and Angus as part of their team and becoming friends with the other heroes with me as a great singer but the part that would be cute yet funny is that Bodi, Darma and Germur are learning to sort of be like parents, Angus feeling out of his element as he doesn't know anything about kids but he learns how to be great with kids, Khampa would be at first nervous about being a grandpa for being worried he might mess up but he eventually would learn that he can relate to me, Fleetwood being overjoyed to having me as part of his family and people, Riff overjoyed to interact with me because he wants to make me laugh, Skozz would speak to me as he would feel confident and comfortable speaking to me as he never spoken verbally for the first time to anyone which would be like progress for him. I know I'm just imagining it but we're all free to dream.

Sure, it looked like a rip-off of animated movies came out from 2016, like Zootopia, Sing, or whatever, but it is actually worth watching it. It's a disappointing that everybody didn't like it, cause of the clichés, and it is predictable, but it's a movie that is good actually. Get the fact that this is a Chinese-American movie, and it is not made by the big companies and stuff like that. The story is a lil' bit flawed, but other than that, it's still good. And the song is great, though. (song name: Glorious)My final rating 10/10. Great movie, maybe it's predictable and clichéd, but I guarantee it's a good movie for the whole family.

I'm not really sure where all the negative reviews for this film are coming from. I am not the biggest animated film fan AT ALL, but I really found Rock Dog to be enjoyable. The music was fun (mostly thanks to Adam Friedman), the characters were funny and generally likable, the story was creative, AND my 2-year-old niece loved it. I do love music, so for me, an animated film about music was much appreciated. I highly recommend this one, especially for families. Not sure why others don't.