Directed by: Byron Howard and Chris Williams
Starring: John Travolta, Susie Essman, Mark Walton, Miley Cyrus
Other Actors of Note: James Lipton, Malcolm McDowell, Deidrich Bader,
Plot: The canine star of a fictional sci-fi/action show that believes his powers are real embarks on a cross country trek to save his co-star from a threat he believes is just as real. Taken from www.imdb.com.
I already shared my opinion on computer animated films in my "Madagascar 2" review. This is a Disney computer animated film, not to be confused with a Disney/Pixar animated film. Disney is famous for such crap as "Dinosaur", "The Wild", and "Meet the Robinsons."
I went and saw "Bolt" because "Twilight" had already started (and because I didn't really want to see it anyway) and "Transporter 3" wasn't on for another hour. I went in with low expectations and it worked out pretty well for me.
Did you see "Toy Story"? Well then you've pretty much seen "Bolt". It's the story of Bolt (John Travolta) and his owner Penny (Miley Cyrus) who star on a show that seems to be trying really hard to not look exactly like "Kim Possible."
The key to the show's success is that Bolt doesn't know it's a show. He honestly thinks Penny gets in danger every week and he's able to save her. But when an unfortunate turn of events ends with Bolt out in the real world he teams with an unlikely group consisting of a racqueteering cat named Mittens (Susie Essman) and a nerdy hamster in a ball named Rhino (Mark Walton) to go cross-country and be re-united with Penny.
John Travolta is surprisingly good in this. I am deeply dissatisfied with Travolta's performance in every film that hasn't been based on an Elmore Leonard novel (and yes, I'm counting "Pulp Fiction") I find him to be dweeby and annoying but as Bolt he actually fits the part perfectly, something I didn't even begin to see happening.
Miley Cyrus is thankfully not a big part of this movie. She's about as important to the story as Andy was in "Toy Story." She does do a decent job as Penny and manages to not be annoying which is a miracle for the spawn of Billy Ray Cyrus.
Susie Essman, who I have strangely never heard of, does a fairly good job as Mittens, a declawed cat running an extortion operation with some pigeons in New York City. She plays the straight-man Woody to Bolt's delusional Buzz Lightyear.
Finally the real show stealer is Mark Walton (who I swore was Jim Gaffigan by his voice) as Rhino, a nerdy fan-boy hamster who shares Bolt's delusion that the dog's exploits are real. He's the funniest character for sure and one particular scene where Bolt tells him there's a guard and he marches around the corner proclaiming "I'll snap his neck." is one of Rhino's finer moments.
The animation for this show is okay, not great but it doesn't fall under that terrible fucking Dreamworks animation either. It's about the quality of "Toy Story" and "A Bug's Life". However it never becomes a problem, the animation style fits the movie and it works.
"Bolt" is for all intents and purposes just "Toy Story" with pets. Bolt is the Buzz Lightyear character who is trapped in the delusion that he is anything more than an actor while Mittens plays the real pet trying to point out that he's just a dog. Naturally Bolt finds out he's not super and gets all downtrodden and then Mittens teaches him how to be a real dog as they go to find Bolt's owner Penny who he has become lost from.
This fact should not detract from the quality of the film, however. As much as you've already seen it before, it's still fun and interesting if albeit cliched. It's a kid's movie for sure but it's still sprinkled with enough "in" jokes to please older audiences as well. One inparticular involving a trio of pigeons pitching a script idea to Bolt and one saying "Don't get too excited, this is how we lost Nemo" had all the adults and none of the kids in the audience busting out in laughter.
It's a nice return to form for Disney as they haven't had a good animated film since "Treasure Planet" in 2002. There's nothing parituclarly special about it but it never seems to matter.
"Bolt" is probably the best non-Pixar computer animated film made to date. It presents nothing new or exciting but it's still a lot of fun for people of any age.
I give "Bolt" a 5 out of 5. See it.
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