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ROCK & RULE
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| Rated PG
| | Copyright 1983 Nelvana
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Reviewed by Andrew Borntreger on 28 May 2008
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World War III always leaves our planet a twisted mess, you know that? Case in point: "Rock & Rule" is set in the future, after Mankind pressed the button and removed himself from the music scene. Instead of people, the movie is populated by anthropomorphic dogs, cats, rats, and other animals. They inhabit cities built atop (or among) the ruins of humanity's sullen memorials. Sadly, the evolved pets and vermin do not seem to be interested in anything besides Rock & Roll. That makes sense, if they are all teenagers.
Angel, Omar, Dizzy, and Stretch are a band that is just beginning to come together. They are torn apart by Mok, a musical icon in this decaying world of jamming animals. Mok looks like Mick Jagger, sometimes with a David Bowie wig (maybe he is supposed to be a lion), and he wants Angel's voice. With her, the power hungry rocker can summon a demon. Now, Angel does not want to sing something out of Hell, but Mok "persuades" her. An initial attempt to bring forth the hordes of Hades fails and destroys the venue.
Radio City Music Hall, the obliterated location of Mok's failed concert of damnation, is located in "Nuke York." WWIII never ends happily for America's largest metropolis.
Frothing at his failures, the evil magician of music makes another attempt to summon his demon in the rock & roll capital of the (post-nuclear war) world: Ohmtown. It works, and the voracious visitor from Satan's suburb starts munching on screaming fans. Omar charges to the rescue; together he and Angel are able to create a melody that banishes the demon back to the pits from whence it came. Everybody lives happily ever after.
Well, except for Mok; we all know what happens to those who summon demons when the evil incarnations are banished. Another notable exclusion is humanity, because we stupidly nuked ourselves into extinction before the movie even started.
The animation is uneven, and has its share of problems, but when it's good the film is amazing and outrageous. I liked it. Anyone with an interest in animated films should give it a whirl. The worst thing I can say about the movie is that it reminded me of a Don Bluth production too often. Roller skating thugs and the horribly patched in "We aren't the bad guys, are we?" segment screamed Bluth at me, and I rarely refer to him in a complimentary fashion (this is not one of them). What about Don Bluth? Are you some sort of rabid fan? In my opinion, he often mucks things up. Look, you prove to me that Rasputin had an army of singing bugs and a trained bat, then we'll talk.
There are two versions of this feature. Both feature surprising voice talents, such as Lou Reed, Deborah Harry, Cheap Trick, and Iggy Pop (though all he does is scream - go figure).
The B-Movie Film Vault sponsored a jammin' roundtable!
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| Things I Learned From This Show: | |
|  | Space Invaders make excellent personal assistants.
| | | The secret to looking imposing, while wearing a pink shirt and roller skates, is mass.
| | | Elizabeth Taylor avoided loud noises for a reason.
| | | Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall both look the same to a dog.
| | | The electric guitar is more closely related to the battle axe than its acoustic cousin.
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| | | 14 mins - "I'm a dog, and you're a cat...thing. It gets a little freaky at times."
| | | 22 mins - Thank goodness that the orb causes a contact high. I was afraid that Omar was going to have to swallow it.
| | | 36 mins - Dogs built that? To what end? Most of the structure is too high for them to pee on it.
| | | 47 mins - There are three places you can experience a dance club this funky: "Rock & Rule," "Lensman," and the real New York.
| | | 59 mins - Is that a bed or plate of ravioli?
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| Club Manager: "I loved it! And so did a warm, personal, and influential friend of mine. The only Ohmtown rocker to have a record go gold, platinum, and plutonium in one day!"
| Zip: "Can you tell the difference between good and evil?"
Mok: "Zip, try to realize there is no longer black or white, good or evil. We've evolved beyond that."
Zip: "But Uncle Mikey says..."
Mok: "We all must have our own personal view of right and wrong."
Zip: "But, is what we are doing evil?"
Mok: "Of course not. Remember, Zip, evil spelled backwards is live, and we all want to do that."
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