Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Bolt - 3 smiles

“Bolt,” with strong supporting characters and appealing narrative, makes for an enjoyable movie-going experience, especially if you are a dog lover. Bolt (voiced by John Travolta) is the unwitting star of a hit TV show built around a variety of Hollywood-created powers, including heat vision, super strength and speed, and a ‘super bark’ that can stop a speeding car. When he is accidentally shipped to New York, Bolt sets off on a cross-country journey back to Penny (Miley Cyrus), his human. Bolt eventually learns that he is not a super dog, but he misses Penny, the only person he feels has loved him. So with the help of two unlikely traveling companions – a cynical housecat named Mittens (Susie Essman) and a TV-obsessed hamster named Rhino (Mark Walton), he heads west, discovering a lot about himself in the process.

The movie opens with a portion of the television show, giving co-directors Chris Williams and Byron Howard opportunity to stage some wild action scenes. However, the heart of the movie lies in the contrasting personalities of Mittens and Rhino that serve as humorous foils for Bolt and their growing friendship. Susie Essman hits just the right notes as a cat angry and bewildered that she has been abandoned. But it’s Mark Walton, Disney’s own in-house story artist and part-time voice actor who really steals the show. “I’ll snap his neck,” Rhino gleefully says as he and Bolt decide how to rescue Mittens from the guard at the animal shelter. You can’t go wrong with a Disney canine movie and “Bolt” has solid animation and plenty of heart. 11/21/08

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

2nd best animated film of the year behind "Beverly Hills Chihuahua"!