Rock & Rule
Rock & Rule
Angel, a member of a punk rock band in the apocalyptic future, is kidnapped by Mok, a legendary superocker. Obsessed with a dark experiment, Mok plans to use Angel's voice to summon a demon from another dimension. The rest of the band follows Mok to Nuke York in an attempt to get her back.
Jacob O’Neal reviewedJuly 16, 2025
Fun music from real singers like Lou Reed, Debbie Harry, Robin Zander of Cheap Trick and Iggy Pop. The animation is fantastic. Cell drawn animation is becoming a lost art form. This movie was beautiful to look at. It had great voice talent for the characters, including the great Maurice Lamarche when he was young, for their speaking voices and famous singers for the songs they perform. The story was an odd one with Mok essentially trying to rule the world through music. But he needs Angel for his nefarious plan. All the characters are humanoid, but definitely not human. They look similar in design to Goofy but with shorter ears. There are a lot of adult themes running throughout this PG movie, including some bits that feel kind of sexual in nature, including animated butts. It was the 80’s, the era where you could put boobs in a live action PG movie if you didn’t carried away. You could even say “goddam” in a G movie like The Last Unicorn. So take it for what it is. Just be careful before plopping a kid down to watch the movie. It’s not terribly adult and most of the stuff should go right over their heads, but the seduction scene with Mok and Angel kinda surprised me. Nothing is shown, but heavily implied.
Still, this film is a flawed piece of nostalgia that has great animation, fun songs from talented artists and decent enough story to hold it together. It could be a lot better, but it’s a fun and short Little Rock and roll animated film that aims to be Heavy Metal if you took out all the language, graphic violence and nudity but left the music and sense of adventure. Turn your brain off and just enjoy the ride for 77 minutes.