The Rock Dog Movie

I have seen a few commercials for this movie. I didn't even know this movie existed until now. Since I want to create show and movie reviews on this website, I decided to start off with our very first animated feature of 2017: Rock Dog.

Here's what I've got from Wikipedia

Rock Dog ( Chinese : 摇滚藏獒) is a 2016 Chinese-American 3D computer-animated comedy film produced by Mandoo Pictures and Huayi Brothers. The film is directed by Ash Brannon, written by Ash Brannon and Kurt Voelker, based on the Chinese graphic novel Tibetan Rock Dog by Zheng Jun. It features the voices of Luke Wilson, Eddie Izzard, J. K. Simmons, Lewis Black, Kenan Thompson, Mae Whitman, Jorge Garcia, Matt Dillon and Sam Elliott. The film follows a young Tibetan Mastiff who leaves his home village in the mountains to become a rock musician in the big city after a radio falls from the sky.
It was released on July 8, 2016 in China by Huayi Brothers and it is scheduled to be released on February 24, 2017 in the United States by Lionsgate.

I didn't know that this film was Chinese. Also, it's coming really soon. But the film is distributed by you guessed it: LIONSGATE! What animated feature did Lionsgate distribute last year: Polar Crap! (AKA Norm of the North)

Plot: Bodi ( Luke Wilson), a wide-eyed Tibetan Mastiff, is expected to become the next village guard to a group of fun-loving, country-side sheep, but fears he does not have the passion to assume the role from his dad Khampa ( J. K. Simmons). Everything changes when a radio literally falls out of the sky and Bodi hears a song by rock legend Angus Scattergood ( Eddie Izzard), opening his heart to a musical world he must explore. Leaving home to chase his destiny in the big city, Bodi attracts the attention of Khampa’s nemesis Linnux ( Lewis Black). Leader of a hungry wolf pack, Linnux believes that Bodi is his ticket back into the village and closer to delicious sheep. It is up to Bodi to save his family and friends from harm without giving up his newfound dream.

You know what? This plot is EXTREMELY cliche and nothing I haven't seen before. I have seen tons of movies where the main character has to choose between pursuing their dream and helping their family and friends. Also, the writing just seems so lazy. A radio falling out of the SKY? Seriously? Lame!

Production & Release: The film was animated by Reel FX, who produced Free Birds and The Book of Life.
The film cost $60 million to make, and thus making it the most expensive Chinese-financed animated productions. Rock Dog is based on a graphic novel, written and illustrated by Chinese rockstar Zheng Jun. The film premiered at the Shanghai International Film Festival, which took place between June 11 and June 19, 2016.
In the United States, the film will be theatrically released on February 24, 2017, by Lionsgate through its Summit Premiere label.
Earning $5.7 million, the film has been a box office failure in China. It has been suggested that the largest Chinese theater chain, Wanda Cinema Line, attempted to limit the amount of screens the film would be shown on. The film was shown only on seven Wanda's screens — 0.3 percent of all its screens in China. Huayi Bros., the film's production company and an owner of a competing theater chain, poached Wanda's executive Jerry Ye a few months before the film's release and made him CEO of its film division.

Ok, this film is sure to be a MAJOR flop. I mean, it BOMBED in box office in China, the premise is completely lame, the animation is on par with Norm of the North, and it's distributed by the EXACT SAME COMPANY as that crap movie: Lionsgate! Besides, it's not like anyone gonna really care about this movie anyway. I mean, when NOTN came out, I heard nobody and I mean NOBODY at school say "I'm gonna watch Norm of the North this Friday at the theater!" or "Did you see Norm of the North yet?". However, I did hear people talk about Moana, Trolls, and Sing when they came out, (probably because they're made by more popular companies than Lionsgate) The same goes for Ratchet and Clank and The Wild Life, nobody cares about them. And this movie has been critically panned. Here's one review I found:

"this film's story is a bit like zootopia. But is much simpler, the story itself can be told with 20 minutes. And it has crucial loopholes and the ending doesn't make much sense. The animals in this film doesn't even have fur."

However, since I am an aspiring critic, I guess I'm gonna have to go to the theater to watch it and review it, if I can get my dad to take me.

Comments

Nice post, to me, this movie looks childish - VideoGamefan5 (2/17/2017)

Same here. Also, I can't believe that Mae Whitman (Katara's voice actress from Avatar The Last Airbender) is in this AWFUL movie! - visitor (2/18/2017)

@Cartoonfan202 Me in Darth Vader voice: NOOO! - Anonymousxcxc (5/26/2017)

The movie is out. I read critics' reviews of it. They all say that it is extremely bland, boring, and cheap. - visitor (2/24/2017)