Jock

Assuming that this film was aimed at children and seeing the vitriolic bile that others have used to review this film I felt that I should give a brief defence of this film.

Animation was at times basic in parts yes but beautiful in others the human characters were better than the animals for the most part, there the criticism ends while not my cup of tea meaning its south African content of which I am not that knowledgeable I took the film for what it was a children's adventure as for the morals that it teaches that those other critics deem so important I thought there were only two good beats evil and the little guy can sometimes beat the big one.

As for a critique of the film I asked my children 4,6,9 and 12 years old who were all glued to the film throughout. Consensus, they all enjoyed the film with no criticism at all. My two year old son was a little scared of George the Baboon, not Gorilla as he was wrongly called by the first critic.

It was in keeping with a children's film when there were some fighting scenes with some violence I thought it was tastefully done with blood and gore completely avoided so as not to distress a young audience. All in all you have to be young at heart to critique a children's film or flaws become chasms. My wife and children spoke I listened and observed mixed their opinions with mine and rate the movie at 6 out of 10.

My opinion don't expect the earth but don't be afraid to get the sweets and popcorn out and watch it with the children on DVD.

This is the retelling of a well known South African story in 3D animated format and a change of focus to younger viewers. If one expects this to be a faithful retelling of the classic story of Jock of the Bushveld, then one is likely to be disappointed. Unlike the original story, which has Percy Fitzpatrick as the narrator, this is a fresh take on the story told from the point of view the young dog Jock.

In essence, this is the story of a young dog coming of age whilst his owner is making his own journey of discovery in the wilderness of early South African. It is a journey of discovery and of overcoming some of the hardships of the environment and the characters that inhabited it.

Given that much of the story unfolds against the backdrop of a gold-rush mad, but essentially unspoilt area of South Africa, it is wonderful to see that the feel of the wild game rich savanna and the vibrancy of the early mining towns of that time are so well captured.

The animation is not world class - but it does not need to be. The story is well told and the acting is first class. It is particularly heartening to hear the voices of Ted Danson, Helen Hunt and Donald Sutherland in this format. Brian Adams also did a sterling performance of giving the lead character a voice. A cameo by Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu is also interesting.

This is a movie made to be enjoyed by kids - it achieves this purpose easily.

Funny, especially a monkey named Basil and a rooster like friend of Jock's. This storyline is more for adults. The narrator of the story sounds really old with a not so good voice.

A lot of cruelty in the story, death of dogs mother, fighting between animals and George a very mean gorilla who takes orders from his-"master" who owns a store. Most characters are mean and aggressive, too much like real life.

The animation is great and goes really well with the singing and dancing of the characters. The music and singing is great too, especially an act by Basil the monkey who used to work in a club with George the gorilla who played the piano.

I found some scenes hard to understand at times with conversations going on in the background and other characters talking. The story has a good ending. Story tells of doing the right thing under difficult circumstances. It uses animals and people in different times of their lives. The writers do this with Jock and his owner who is honest, hard working and upstanding in character.

"Jock" is not all that impressive for an animated movie. You'd think that this was a kids movie, but given the storyline, it sort of intended for a more grown up, if not mature, audience, because the storyline is far from a cheerful and silly one that is usually seen in animated movies.

Personally I didn't really find the movie all that interesting, because the characters in the movie were fairly plain and sort of one-dimensional. It wasn't really characters that you really got to love and have any type of relationship with.

I will say that the CGI animation and the visuals were quite good though, and that is what really works in favor for the movie. If you have smaller kids in the household, you might want to go for a different animated movie, as there is something underlying more sinister to this storyline, which may not be suitable for just anyone.

Also the names billed on the voice cast list does impress as there are some nice names here; Donald Sutherland, Helen Hunt, Ted Danson and William Baldwin. More impressively, then they got Desmond Tutu to add his voice to this as well. As for Bryan Adams, well I will leave that untouched, as I have no personal liking or disliking for him or his work in any way.

In this day and age, "Jock" is nothing impressive and doesn't really move the bar for CGI animated movies in any way.

Jock is an iconic South African story. It has all the right values of courage, bravery, loyalty and adventure to make it a must watch for young kids. Set in the bushveld of South Africa in the time of the Gold Rush in the late 1800's, the characters are from all over the world. They were in a strange land with wild animals and other adversities , seeking their fame and fortune. the story picks up on the adventures of Jock, the runt of the litter and the Transport rider who is gifted him by the local Zulu Chief. The technical quality is not as consistent as it might be but children are not critical like adults and so almost universally seem to enjoy watching this heart warming film. There is good music and the voices of Bryan Adams, Donald Sutherland, Bishop Tutu and Helen Hunt make for a good enough movie for all to watch.