Bolt (Single-Disc Edition)
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Movie Reviews of Bolt (Single-Disc Edition)
Movie Review: Consider me `Team Bolt'!
Summary: 5 Stars
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'.
Movie Review: Great Disney humor
Summary: 5 Stars
Bolt believes he is the character from his TV show because the producers think this makes him the most emotion filled and believable animal actor ever seen. Penny, his person, and the heroine from the show wants Bolt to be able to be a real dog and come home with her for the weekend. The money grubbing agent of course will have nothing to do with that idea.
The network says that research shows Bolt is too predictable and is boring people in their target age group. Penny gets in trouble and Bolt always saves her. So they put in a twist, Penny gets in trouble and Bolt doesn't save her. After the show Penny is panicked because they won't let her see Bolt, and she knows he's going to be freaking out thinking she is in trouble, which of course he is. He gets out of his trailer, hits his head trying to escape the building and is knocked unconscious into a box of pink Styrofoam and gets shipped to New York.
When he wakes up, he is searching for Penny, and doesn't know he's not on the set and doesn't have super powers. The contrast of his belief he is a superhero with real life sets up lots of funny scenes throughout the movie. He meets some pigeons, which is a reoccurring theme in the movie. The pigeons always have a pronounced accent and clear local sayings and behaviors that are quite funny. These pigeons introduce him to a jaded cat named Mittens that Bold believes works for the villain from the TV show. She explains to him that he has to get from New York to California to find Penny. Against her wishes they set off across country to find Penny.
They pick up a funny hamster in a ball on the way named Rhino. He's a huge fan of Bolt's TV show and that is how Mittens, and eventually Bolt figure out that he's not truly a superhero. There are so many funny scenes that it may be in the Disney humor realm with the greats like Toy Story (10th Anniversary Edition), Monsters, Inc. (Two-Disc Collector's Edition), Cars (Widescreen Edition), and Mulan (Special Edition). I'll need to see it a few more times to know for sure, but it's at least close.
There are of course several tear jerking scenes as Bolt discovers he is just a dog, the truth about Mittens and when he thinks Penny doesn't really love him. But in true Disney fashion, he rises above his limitations and is more than he knows. The ending is great, and the pigeons make a final appearance indicating what part of the country they're in.
This is a movie I preordered because I will enjoy it as much as my children, and when they watch it every day in the car for two weeks, I'll laugh at the lines right along with them.
Movie Review: Thanks again Mr. Lasseter
Summary: 5 Stars
It's no accident that Bolt is the first non-Pixar film to have that companys magic, or as one paper aptly said "the first Disney offering in many years to have earned the sparkle of the fairly dust logo". He's right.
The reason for that is almost certainly the involvement of John Lasseter, who was the driving force behind the Pixar classics we've come to know, and more importantly-trust with our kids. He's now apparently with Disney, and the difference is immediately obvious. Bolt is absolutely wonderful from beginning to end. It's funny, exciting, heartwarming and witty enough at the adult level to entertain mom and dad as well.
The last point is particularly important here. The Dreamworks method, and up till recently the Disney one for keeping adults in their seats has been the particularly lazy and offensive expedient of throwing-in enough sexual innuendo and fart gags to hopefully make mom and dad giggle. Assuming of course, that mom and dad have the class of Rosanne and the I.Q. of well....Rosanne.
Thankfully, Pixar has always decided to take the higher and decidedly more creative route of, oh, actually writing a script filled with wit, cleverness and sincere heart. Those three things will trump vulgarity to any thoughtful parent and child every time. And just when you fear that America is becoming the world's largest trailer park, the success of these wonderful Pixar films reminds you that Hollywood, and the audience they ostensibly serve, are not entirely bankrupt of heart and ideas.
Which happily brings us to Bolt. This really is the first film to come from a non-Pixar studio that is every bit as good as Finding Nemo, Cars, and Toy Story. The animation is jaw-dropping. The humor is sharp, the characters memorable, the action sequences exciting, and the lessons pure and simple; love, loyalty and courage. I can't imagine anyone not loving every moment of this film.
While it was sadly, slightly overshadowed by the (to my mind) smug and preachy Wall-E, for anyone more interested in entertaining their child than indoctrinating them, you couldn't do better than this. If you're an admirer of Pixar's films, I think you'll find that the spirt lives in Bolt far more than in the lesser film that got all the critical sighs. Please give this a try for your kids, and watch it with them. I promise you'll smile, laugh, and cry...even if the TV does slightly enlarge your carbon footprint ;)
Movie Review: It's a keeper
Summary: 5 Stars
I wasn't expecting Bolt to be this much fun. I kept laughing out loud. One touching part late in the film made me tear up. And the visuals are virtuoso.
The story has lots of familiar touches. Its road trip plot channels The Incredible Journey. Pooch Bolt sincerely thinks he has true superhero powers, much like Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. The truth is that he is on a television series, and has been living a lie most of his life (The Truman Show, anyone?) His human, a preteen girl named Penny, is a child actress, although she truly loves Bolt and longs to give him a normal doggie life.
Although the plot could have been stronger, the visual effects and look of the film are amazing. I kept being distracted by the perfection on the screen. My poor daughter, who went with me to see the movie when it was released in theaters, had to endure me continually tapping her arm, saying "Did you see that?! The smoke looks REAL!" or "The rust on the train looks PERFECT!"
A number of scenes use techniques I learned about watching a Pixar documentary on the Wall-E DVD. It's about the imperfect lens, or how cameras have inherent limitations. Animation of course doesn't use cameras in the traditional way. Yet in Bolt you see example after example of the filmmakers enhancing the reality of the movie by building in imperfections that don't have to be there. For instance, in one shot Bolt looks up at the sunny sky. The screen shows the squared-off circles you'd see if you pointed a camera's lens into the sun. The film also uses variable depth of field, much like a cameraman does when shooting a live-action movie. It's as if a camera is adjusting its lens as the scene progresses.
Bolt is voiced by John Travolta, and Penny by Miley "Hannah Montana" Cyrus. Both these likable actors delivered true-life, believable characters. They even sing together in the closing duet, "I Thought I'd Lost You."
Movie Review: Surprisingly Good
Summary: 5 Stars
I originally opted not to see this in the theater because I didn't think it could come close to the new standard set by Wall-E, and the trailers didn't do the movie justice.
I finally rented it for my son, and now we plan on purchasing it. The story is about a dog, Bolt, who is raised on-set, so he thinks the TV show being filmed is real. Everyone that has anything to do with the TV series goes out of their way to make sure that Bolt never finds out the truth. They want his reactions to be genuine.
The problem arises when they take it too far, and Bolt is convinced that "his person" Penny has been kidnapped. He ends up lost off-set, but meets other animals that help him get back to Hollywood.
The pigeons were awesome. They had different dialects, depending on where they lived, but these animatede versions had all the nautral clicks that real pigeons do (ex: the weird way they shift their eyes).
The pigeons lead Bolt to a stray cat, Mittens, who he believes is in league with the bad guy. Bolt also meets, Rhino, a hamster who watches too much TV and thinks Bolt's character is real. Mittens tries to explain reality to Bolt and Rhino, but to no avail.
The three of them travel together to Hollywood, with Mittens teaching Bolt how to be a regular pet, and Bolt discovering that Mittens used to be a pet herself. By the time they arrive at the studio, the dynamic of the group has changed. Eventually, Bolt is reunited with Penny, but they are soon trapped by a very real studio fire.
Of course, there is a happy ending. There is also a cute short with Rhino, who pays homage to Hannah Montana, which is amusing since Miley Cyrus is Penny's voice.
While this is not as good as Wall E, I thought it had more action than Pixar's Up. Next time I won't be so quick to judge a kids' movie. I really think this is a movie for the entire family.