With a title like Rock Dog, it should come as no surprise that this animated film keeps plot and characters light and simple. Bodi (voiced by Luke Wilson), a young mastiff, grows up in the isolated yet idyllic town of Snow Mountain, but he dreams of making it big in the city as a rock star like his idol Angus Scattergood (voiced delightfully by Eddie Izzard). Likable enough, Rock Dog fails to break out the mold long enough to garner any lasting attention.
All of your standard animated characters are here. You’ve got the stern overbearing dad (voiced by J.K. Simmons), the wise mentor (a zen-like yak voiced by Sam Elliott), a couple of barely developed friends (voiced by the underused Mae Whitman and Jorge Garcia), and a plotting villain (a wolf mobster voiced by Lewis Black) and his henchmen (one of whom is voiced by Kenan Thompson.) Eddie Izzard delivers a fun performance as rock star cat Angus Scattergood, predictably self-centered and egotistical. Most of the film’s comedic highlights stem from Scattergood’s scathing dialogue and intense security system.
The plot never strays from its predictable path as Bodi tries to fulfill his dreams of becoming a rock star while grappling with letting down his music-averse father. There’s a strange element of magic here where the mastiffs have some sort of special ability to dispel power/light, unleashed when they use their strengths (whether that be fighting or music). It’s used as more of a deus ex machina than anything else and is never really explained even though no one else in the cast seems to have powers.
Based on a Chinese graphic novel (Tibetan Rock Dog), you can’t help but feel that the main storyline was probably sanitized for young Western audiences. It also leads to some awkward contrasts. While Rock Dog never dwells on location, it’s clear that Bodi is supposed to be from Tibet and that the city he travels to is Beijing since much of the city’s signs are written in Mandarin. But if that’s the case, then why are all these anthropomorphic animals speaking with American and English accents?
Cute and lighthearted, Rock Dog is certainly a passable animated film for the younger set. However, with nothing to distinguish it from the animated crowd, it’s certainly not going to leave a lasting impression.
