Rock Dog

This computer-animated kids' movie from China is based on the 2009 graphic novel Tibetan Rock Dog by mainland singer-songwriter Zheng Jun, but it was directed by American Ash Brannon and features voice work by an English-speaking cast. Young mastiff Bodi (Luke Wilson) is being trained by his father (J.K. Simmons) to follow in his paw-steps as the sole watchdog guarding a village of haplessly goofy sheep. But Bodi's love of music sends him to the city, where he becomes involved with both a struggling outdoor band and a reclusive rock idol, the latter a scrawny cat named Angus Scattergood (Eddie Izzard), who is suffering from writer's block and needs to compose a hit single fast. Bodi is also being stalked by the evil wolf Linnux (Lewis Black),who intends to use him to take over the village. A subplot involving pro wrestling is not only extraneous but falls flat, and the appearance of a cute robot has little purpose. Rock Dog is terminally bland, lacking any sense of surprise or edginess, with merely adequate animation and anemic music. A mutt that is unlikely to appeal to audiences in either China or America, this is optional, at best. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include the behind-the-scenes featurettes “Rock Dog and Roll: Exploring the Music” (7 min.), “Finding the Fire” (6 min.), “Mic Check: Casting the Voices” (6 min.), and “A Rockin' New World” (6 min.), as well as a music video for the soundtrack song “Glorious.” Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD, UltraViolet, and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a decent extras package for an unremarkable family film.] (F. Swietek)