Dr. Venkman Reviews: BOLT
From the beginning I was not on board with this movie. I am not a big fan of dog movies, Miley Cyrus, and so what if John Travolta lends his voice to a dog named Bolt. I could have cared less about seeing this Disney CGI non-Pixar movie. But, the kids wanted to see it, so being the awesome dad that I am I took them to it, and you know what? I liked it.
I liked it a lot! In fact I liked it more than ‘Wall-E’ and ‘Kung Fu Panda’. It’s crazy I know, but let me explain as to why this may be. I think the reason why I liked this movie so much was because my expectations for it were non-existent. For both ‘Wall-E’, and ‘Kung Fu Panda’ I had high expectations, ‘Wall-E’ fell below them, and ‘Kung-Fu panda’ met them. So ‘Bolt’ just seemed that much better. I really enjoyed the story and thought it was told very well.
Bolt is the tale a dog actor who is being shielded off from the real world by the studio that produces his TV show. You see, Bolt has no idea that the TV show and the script that everyone is working from is fake. He thinks it is real and the actress in the show Penny is the one girl he needs to protect. Even when he is off camera he is constantly in character because this is who he is, this TV show is his life, and nothing else exists outside of this world. On top of all that he believes the powers he has in the show are real. As they conclude filming an episode of the show they leave it as a cliffhanger with Penny being taken by the evil the evil Dr. Calico. Bolt thinks she has really been kidnapped, so he feels it is his duty to save her. He escapes from the studio and sets out on a journey to find Penny. During this journey he comes across a few other animals that help him in his efforts one of them a cat named Mittens that Bolt thinks works for Dr. Calico’s evil organization and will lead him to Penny. The other character is a Hamster named Rhino who is a TV geek that is a huge fan of Bolt and will do anything to join in on his adventures. This adventure turns into a story of self-discovery, and Bolt finds out what he is really made off.
The film is very entertaining full of fun, action, and comedy. It was also a film that kept the attention of the kids in the audience. The movie is first and foremost for kids, but as I watched it, I felt like a kid. I love it when I get those feeling’s that takes me back to that inner child. It doesn’t happen very often, so it’s really cool when it does. Unfortunately I did not get to see this movie in Disney Digital 3-D, but the movie does not have any cheesy in your face 3-D moments. 
The characters in the film are great, my favorite has to be Rhino who was the comic relief of the film. That little hamster just made me laugh every time he was on screen. There were also a few other secondary characters that really made the movie, such as the pigeons. Now in real life I hate pigeons but these pigeons were quite entertaining. They are much like the penguins in the ‘Madagascar’ movies.
I had no desire to see this movie, but now I highly recommend it. You have the Thanksgiving weekend coming up, and this is a great movie to take the whole family to. Bolt is CGI Disney entertainment at its best. Sometimes I wonder why the Disney animated movies are so good and their live action movies are so mediocre.