Bolt Review

We saw a sneak peak of Disney's "Bolt" last night. But before I proceed, allow me to have a short rant against a movie theater chain.

We saw the movie at one of the Marcus theater, and this one was in Addison, IL, which, to us is pretty far from where we live on the north side of Chicago. Still, that was the same day we were having our month Windy City Pin Traders pin meet, and the theater is barely a couple of blocks away, so it made sense to go to the movie there that evening after the pin meet.

Anyway, when we looked up for where Bolt was being previewed that evening, there were only, what, 5-10 theaters in the Chicagoland area (none in the city, of course!) showing it. What was more disappointing was that NONE of them indicated if the movie would be shown in 2D or 3D. So we tried calling the theater we were planning on going, which is a Marcus theater in Addison. Guess what? You cannot get a live person to talk to when you call that number. No matter what button you push on your phone, it will not get you to talk to a live person. So even calling the movie theater does not get us the information we need. So we decided, what the hey, we'll go anyway.

The movie we saw was being previewed in 2D!

Yeah, so I was a bit disappointed. I would have gone to see it anyway in 2D because of the reason that none of theaters were advertising which were showing in 3D. Besides, all the other theaters were just too damn far away.

Anyway, on with the movie. But first, as with any movie, we have to get to the trailers first. This is important because they showed 3 trailers before "Bolt" started, and all of them were animation movies that will be opening soon (next year). The first trailer that was shown was Dreamworks' "Aliens versus Monsters". Now, I must admit, the trailer was hysterical! It seems that an alien has landed on earth and about to "take it". But some government agency or something actually has been experimenting on producing these "monsters" that they've kept secret all this time. So they're sending these monsters to battle the aliens. I was cracking up while the trailer was being shown. So this one is a definite see.

The second was a sequel to Ice Age, which would make it "Ice Age 3 - The Age of the Dinosaur". The tailer was entirely on that squirrel (it's a squirrel, isn't it?) and his acorn, but this time, he has a "damsel in distress" companion. We'll probably go see it since we saw the first two and had a good time.

But it is the third trailer that had me perked up. It was a trailer of "Up", Disney/Pixar's next movie. Boy oh boy, this one is going to be GOOD, both in terms of the story premise (from what I can gather from just watching the trailer) and from the picture quality (those balloons!!! My god!). An old curmudgeon has had enough and decided to float a lot of helium-filled balloon attached to his house, which then lifted off its foundation and started to being him on an adventure. But, he had a stowaway, a kid who he let come along with him on his adventure.

I can't wait!

So, enough beating around the bush. Let's get on with "Bolt". Note that I cannot guaranteed that there are no spoilers here. So read at your own risk.

First and foremost, the picture looks amazing! With animals, you tent to pay attention to their fur and details of the bodies, and no details were skimped with this movie. So right off the bat, the animation was outstanding.

The story started out very warm and fuzzy. Bolt was a young puppy at a pet store that a girl named Penny (they didn't say if her "screen name" is the same as her real name, but in the credits, they only credited "Penny" as the character name of Miley Cyrus) adopted. This scene was well done because right off the beginning, you a drawn to the puppy and fall for it. The animator manipulated all the emotional strings to get us to love the puppy (I do! I do!).

But it is in the next scene, 5 years later, that the premise of the movie is set up. Bolt is now in this TV series called.... of course "Bolt", and Penny is his "person". But the Penny that Bolt knows is Penny the actress, who plays the daughter of a scientist that has been kidnapped by the evil Green-Eyed man. Not only that, Bolt seems to think he has superpowers because his world has been confined to only the TV set and TV shoot. Those involved with the show have gone out of their way to try to make the show an actual life for Bolt, simply, as the director of the show puts it (voiced by James Lipton of the "Inside the Actor's Studio"), because he wants to get the true emotion out of the dog.

So Bolt truly believes that what goes on on the TV show is real world. But when Penny was kidnapped (on the show, not in real life) and separated from him, he of course decided that he has to go rescue her. He somehow got loose from the trailer that he is normally confined to when the show is not shooting, and got knocked unconscious after he got hit a few times trying to invoke his superpowers, landing in a shipping box full of Styrofoam (remember the Styrofoam!). He got shipped to the other side of the coast (NY City). So when he escaped out of the box, his mission is to try to get back to LA and rescue Penny.

In NY, he encounters several hilarious creatures (the pigeons were hilarious throughout the movie), but the most important creature he met was Mittens, the cat. She became his originally-unwilling companion on their cross-country trek to LA, along the way being joined by another delusional animal, Rhino (I forgot what he is - a hamster?) who lives mainly in this clear ball. More importantly, as they got closer to LA, Bolt finally realizes that he does not have superpowers and began to enjoy real life as a normal dog, such as sticking his head out of a window on a moving vehicle).

What happens when Bolt and company reach LA and try to find Penny is something I won't reveal since you want something left as a reason to watch the movie, ya? :)

The story line started out in an intriguing manner - very much like the Jim Carrey movie "The Truman Show". But as it progresses, I find that the story became predictable. I could sorta guess what would happen next, even though I can't tell exactly HOW it will happen. It isn't a big deal since most movies are like that, especially if they deal with familiar issues. Is the movie entertaining? Very much so. I definitely recommend it as a family entertainment. But it doesn't have that "bite" that a Pixar movie normally has. And when compared with other recent digital Disney Animation production, I think I still prefer "Meet The Robinsons" as being the best so far.

But you sholdn't miss "Bolt". We may have to go see it again in 3D, and it will be worth it.

Zz.