Movie review: Bolt

For as long as I can remember I've been a fan of animated movies and Disney's latest didn't disappoint. Ever since Pixar and Disney split a few years back Disney decided to start making their own CG movies. Now even though Pixar and Disney are back together Disney has continued to make their own. Their latest is called Bolt.

The story is about a dog named Bolt who is the star of a hit TV show. But what he doesn't know is that he is the star of a TV show. The producers go to great lengths to make him think that it is real to get a more genuine reaction. Well one day after shooting Bolt manages to get shipped off to New York City. There he meets up with 3 pigeons who lead him to a snarky alley cat named Mittens voice by Susie Essman who some people might know from Curb Your Enthusiasm. They then set off on a cross-country road trip to get back to Bolt's owner Penny, voiced by Miley Cyrus. What follows is your typical buddy road movie. They become really good friends, argue and have some escapes and adventures. Also along the way they meet up with a super-fan hamster named Rhino who travels around in a clear hamster ball.

The movie has some genuinely funny moments (including a reference to Finding Nemo) and some ones that are pretty touching. One way this movie differs from other Disney movies of this type is there really isn't an all around villain. There is a man that Bolt blames for everything but he is a character on the TV show. The only person that comes close is Penny's agent/manager but he is more a leech than anything else. it would have been nice to have a bit more conflict. Something that was hindering the character's progress but if it was done wrong it could have become very cliché.

The movie looks really good. It is not really up to par with movies like Finding Nemo or Wall-E but for a non-Pixar movie it looks pretty good. You can tell that most of the effort was put into Bolt, Mittens and other animals so the humans have that Toy Story like look to them. The environments do look really good even if they don't stay in one place for too long.

When it comes to the voice acting I thought it was solid all around. John Travolta did a good job as the main character and after a while you forget that he's the one doing the voice. Susie Essman did a good job too and not having watched Curb Your Enthusiasm I didn't recognize her voice but she gave the character a real distinctive personality. The comic relief of the movie came from Rhino voiced by Mark Walton who is an artist for Disney as well as a veteran voice-actor.

I would say if you have kids than you should definitely take them to see this movie. But as a parent you won't be disappointed as there is enough there to keep both kids and adults entertained. Yes the story is a bit predictable and doesn't really do anything new with the buddy movie idea but the concept and characters help you get around that. But if you don't have kids are just a fan of Disney movies or animated movies in general I say check this one out. Hopefully it can tide everyone over until the next Pixar movie comes out.

My score: 7.5/10