I went to see Rock Dog with a friend, and although it's by no means an amazing film - it's not bad! We left the theater smiling. I'd say it's about a 6.5 out of 10, pushing towards 7 for the furry content.
They definitely had a smaller budget to work with than most North American productions - a small cast of simple characters, plus a lot of the sheep and wolves all had the same design - but it had fun with itself. As long as you're not expecting a deep story or anything, you'll be fine. I do wish they'd put a little more effort into the wolves' motive - I was hoping for a backstory on Bodi's father, but no. I can't find the interview, but I could swear that somewhere I heard the director explain about the Tibetan mastiff mane problem, which is why Bodi wears a hat.
For a Chinese-American co-production, there was apparently almost no executive meddling! It's a real shame that its distribution in China was sabotaged - I'd like to see more collaborations like this, but the overly critical North American reviews haven't done it any favors.
As my friend and I discussed the film afterwards, we were both charmed by the lack of toilet humor. Despite the attempts to minimize the Chinese setting, it's still there - the downtown of the city, the characters eating in a ramen shop, and how Bodi could go from an under-developed rural village to a full-blown technological metropolis in the space of one bus ride. We also liked the message that Bodi's father was willing to stop trying to fit his son into his own mold, and give him the chance to go off and pursue his dream. I guess Tibetan mastiffs have some kind of chi-like inner force in this story universe, but they have to channel it. Bodi's father channels his through anger. Bodi takes a while to find his own way.
Good voice-acting all around - and I liked the silent wolf stooge too. Once the film comes out on DVD I'm going to see if I can find a nice frontal view to use as an icon. (The wolves' side-view is too pointy!)
And I found the movie's song, "Glorious", to be way more catchy than Shakira's "Try Anything". Basically, if you're in the mood for something uncomplicated, mildly silly, fun and furry, give Rock Dog a try!
I went to see Rock Dog with a friend, and although it's by no means an amazing film - it's not bad! We left the theater smiling. I'd say it's about a 6.5 out of 10, pushing towards 7 for the furry content.
They definitely had a smaller budget to work with than most North American productions - a small cast of simple characters, plus a lot of the sheep and wolves all had the same design - but it had fun with itself. As long as you're not expecting a deep story or anything, you'll be fine. I do wish they'd put a little more effort into the wolves' motive - I was hoping for a backstory on Bodi's father, but no. I can't find the interview, but I could swear that somewhere I heard the director explain about the Tibetan mastiff mane problem, which is why Bodi wears a hat.
For a Chinese-American co-production, there was apparently almost no executive meddling! It's a real shame that its distribution in China was sabotaged - I'd like to see more collaborations like this, but the overly critical North American reviews haven't done it any favors.
As my friend and I discussed the film afterwards, we were both charmed by the lack of toilet humor. Despite the attempts to minimize the Chinese setting, it's still there - the downtown of the city, the characters eating in a ramen shop, and how Bodi could go from an under-developed rural village to a full-blown technological metropolis in the space of one bus ride. We also liked the message that Bodi's father was willing to stop trying to fit his son into his own mold, and give him the chance to go off and pursue his dream. I guess Tibetan mastiffs have some kind of chi-like inner force in this story universe, but they have to channel it. Bodi's father channels his through anger. Bodi takes a while to find his own way.
Good voice-acting all around - and I liked the silent wolf stooge too. Once the film comes out on DVD I'm going to see if I can find a nice frontal view to use as an icon. (The wolves' side-view is too pointy!)
And I found the movie's song, "Glorious", to be way more catchy than Shakira's "Try Anything". Basically, if you're in the mood for something uncomplicated, mildly silly, fun and furry, give Rock Dog a try!