Overall Rating:
Grade: A+
Score: 9.5/10
Family-Friendliness Scale: Level 5 (Recommended)
Family-Friendliness Scale: Level 5 (Recommended)
Kids ages 6+
Everything's real, at least when you don't realize you're in front of a TV camera...
The latest animated adventure from Disney tells the story of a TV star dog named Bolt (voiced by John Travolta), who thinks his countless efforts to save his owner Penny (voiced by Miley Cyrus) are real. But all Penny wants is to let Bolt have time to be a real dog, against the wishes of the studio and her agent (voiced by Greg Germann). But when Penny is "kidnapped" during an episode and Bolt has to wait to rescue her, he misinterprets it and tries to "save" her. But he winds up in a package shipping for New York City. Not knowing where he is, Bolt enlists the help of an alley cat named Mittens (voiced by Susie Essman) and a hamster/crazed fan named Rhino (voiced by Mark Walton) to help him get back to Hollywood, and to Penny.
Positive Notes
The latest animated adventure from Disney tells the story of a TV star dog named Bolt (voiced by John Travolta), who thinks his countless efforts to save his owner Penny (voiced by Miley Cyrus) are real. But all Penny wants is to let Bolt have time to be a real dog, against the wishes of the studio and her agent (voiced by Greg Germann). But when Penny is "kidnapped" during an episode and Bolt has to wait to rescue her, he misinterprets it and tries to "save" her. But he winds up in a package shipping for New York City. Not knowing where he is, Bolt enlists the help of an alley cat named Mittens (voiced by Susie Essman) and a hamster/crazed fan named Rhino (voiced by Mark Walton) to help him get back to Hollywood, and to Penny.
Positive Notes
This animated adventure features positive messages on the importance of family, friendship, self-sacrifice, and true heroism. Bolt, despite being delusional about what's really happening, is protective over his owner, and is willing to sacrifice himself to save Penny. He does learn later that he doesn't have any powers (like his TV show), and that he can still be a hero without the heat vision or the super bark. Penny is a loving owner who tries to do as much as she can for her dog as possible.
The film gives us an inside look at how action shows are made in Hollywood, from stuntmen, to several camera-men, to how visual effects work. And while that may not be the best thing in the movie, it still is interesting to get to see how all the action scenes work. The voice cast brings a lot of sincerity to their characters, with Travolta doing a brilliant job as Bolt, and Cyrus bringing innocence and spunk to Penny.
The music score by John Powell is exciting and fun. The animation sparkles, with nicely-crafted backgrounds and characters. The film also contains a whole bunch of hilarious moments, including the ones where Mittens is mistaken for an evil cat by Bolt and Rhino and a group of wisecracking pigeons that can't figure out who Bolt is. Jenny Lewis lends a heartwarming, fun song in "Barking at the Moon", and Travolta and Cyrus duet in the memorable end credits song, "I Thought I Lost You".
Negative Notes
One mild toilet humor joke and one use of the unfinished "what the...?".
Not necessarily negative, but a few danger scenes may frighten very young children.
Not necessarily negative, but a few danger scenes may frighten very young children.
Conclusion
When Disney closed its' traditional animation studio (for a little while), they were hoping to have success in computer animation. Sadly though, they didn't, as both Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons paled in comparison to Disney's previous movies in both box office and critical reception. They also were a lot goofier than what Disney's other films had to offer.
At first, Bolt didn't look too different compared to its' two predecessors. But when I watched it, I felt this sense of extreme nostalgia mixed with my interests today. The movie reminded me of the Homeward Bound movies mixed with The Incredibles-like action , which I personally think, is pure genious.
Bolt is my favorite movie because it has everything you would ever want in a movie. A heartwarming story, the right kind of humor, thrilling action, and quirky, engaging characters. The perfect family adventure.
