Bolt is a funny animated film about a dog who thinks he has superpowers. It is also a movie about friendship, perseverance, and the power of believing in oneself. Everyone knows that superheroes on television are not real, but super-dog Bolt (John Travolta) is a canine star who has been carefully raised to believe that he really possesses superpowers. Bolt is completely devoted to his human co-star Penny (Miley Cyrus), so when Penny is captured by the evil Dr. Calico (Malcolm McDowell) in their latest television episode and then Bolt accidentally gets loose in the real world, Bolt sets off on a journey to save her. Bolt is confounded when his super powers are suddenly ineffective, but inspiration strikes and Bolt quickly discovers the mysterious, power-stealing effects of Styrofoam packing peanuts. An encounter with alley cat Mittens (Susie Essman) gives Bolt some eye-opening lessons about being a real dog in the real world, while star-struck, ball-enclosed hamster Rhino (Mark Walton) revels in the opportunity to serve as Bolt's sidekick in the quest to rescue Penny. The trio traverses the United States from waffle house to waffle house on a hysterical quest to find Penny and prove that the relationship between Penny and Bolt is real. In the end, Bolt, Mittens, and Rhino learn that everyone is special in their own way and they discover the true power of believing in oneself and one's friends. Select theaters showed Bolt in Real-D 3-D which features some nice effects, but the film is probably equally enjoyable in the traditional format. A fun film with a nice message and a huge dose of cute, Bolt is good entertainment for the entire family. --Tami Horiuchi
Stills from Bolt (Click for larger image)
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- Let it begin! Get ready for the most totally awesome adventure ever as Bolt, the coolest action hero on Earth, and me, Rhino, his faithful partner and right-hand hamster, set off on a super secret mission! As one half of the Dynamic Duo, I'll let you in on the action. One day I'm watching Bolt on TV, and the next thing I know I'm working alongside my all-time favorite hero in stealth m
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 We watch it everyday, with our 23 month old! |
| Review Date: March 17, 2010 |
| Reviewer: S. Ronen, Chantilly, VA |
| Lovely movie with great animation. My 23mo old loves the animals and the action. He asks for it by name. It's a great family movie. |
Consider me `Team Bolt'!
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| Review Date: March 16, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Andrew Ellington, Mulholland Drive |
I'm going to go out on a HUGE limb here and say that the film that should have won that 2008 Oscar for Best Animated Feature was `Bolt'. I know, I know; `Wall-E' is wonderful, but for me that particular film falls a bit short with it's unoriginal and wildly clichéd ending (besides, of Pixar's three year winning streak, `Wall-E' was BY FAR the weakest link). `Bolt', while not free from its own set of clichés, never once disappointed me. I laughed, I cried, I was concerned, I was intrigued, I was tense, I was jovial; everything I could have ever wanted in a cartoon (NO, never use that word) was found in `Bolt'.
The film tells the story of Bolt, a television super-dog who doesn't realize he isn't really a super-dog. He has been raised to fully believe he has superpowers and that his `person' Penny is truly in danger. So, when the television studio takes a risk and decides to leave the audience with a cliffhanger (Penny's capture by the evil Dr. Calico), Bolt escapes into the real world in order to rescue Penny himself.
Once in the real world, Bolt soon realizes that he is far from the super-dog he thought he was. What he learns though, is that he is an even bigger super-dog than the television show let-on.
This lovely little film definitely wins points for addressing the emptiness of celebrity without every going over the top ("nope, never seen him before in my life"). It also would certainly make PETA very happy with its stern take on the abandonment of animals (I actually teared up during Mittens' big reveal). At heart though, this film is all about the power of love and loyalty (dogs are noted for their loyalty). The film teaches the valuable lesson that, if we believe, we can achieve. Bolt suffers a huge blow when he realizes his powers are fake, but the real power he possesses is his heart, and that `weapon' is more powerful than any super-bark could be.
The film manages to evoke a lot of emotional responses, and it understands how to make everything fit together well. The film has its intense moments, which could be a tad scary for kids, but the overall feel to the film is a jovial and heartwarming one. The films opening is particularly well done (it's like a movie inside a movie), but the high opening doesn't give way to any sort of a let-down.
The film just keeps getting better and better.
The voice work here is also great. John Travolta has a voice suited for this kind of work. I was pleasantly surprised. Miley is rather unrecognizable, but whatever (she's not really in the film too much). For me, the standouts were Mark Walton and Susie Essman. They were hysterical, and Essman had the right amount of earnestness to make her character's arc truly touching.
Yes, this film has its share of clichés (I mean, Rhino is a cliché in himself, but a really funny one), and the Hollywoodized happy ending was expected (this is a film about Hollywood in a way) but it is also totally welcome here. This film embraces and embellishes its own faults to make something beautiful out of them.
Like I said, this film, for me, was better than `Wall-E'. |
my kids love Bolt
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| Review Date: March 12, 2010 |
| Reviewer: M. Tiedemann, Ann Arbor, MI USA |
| It's been a long time since we've cared for an animated Disney film (we've big Pixar fans), but there is something about this dog and his friend Penny that really gets my kids (ages 2 and 4). They love Bolt, they love Rhino the hamster, and they love to play "Penny and Bolt," which involves them running around in circles, calling each other 'Penny' and 'Bolt.' After checking this out of the library many a time, I finally broke down and bought a copy. It's a cute film, and Rhino really steals the show. |
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