MOVIE
REVIEW: BOLT
11/21/08
SYNOPSIS:
For super-dog BOLT (voice of JOHN
TRAVOLTA), every day is filled with adventure, danger and
intrigue—at least until the cameras stop rolling. When the
star of a hit TV show is accidentally shipped from his
Hollywood soundstage to New York City , he begins his
biggest adventure yet—a cross-country journey through the
real world to get back to his owner and co-star, Penny
(voice of MILEY CYRUS). Armed only with the delusions that
all his amazing feats and powers are real, and the help of
two unlikely traveling companions—a jaded, abandoned
housecat named Mittens (voice of SUSIE ESSMAN) and a
TV-obsessed hamster named Rhino (voice of MARK WALTON) --
Bolt discovers he doesn’t need superpowers to be a hero.
REVIEW: When John
Lasseter was named chief creative officer and principal
creative advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering, many believed
that this was the turning point for the Disney Animation
Studio. After years of disappointments in the animation film
world. Lasseter who has been the Oscar®-winning director for
“Toy Story,” “A Bug’s Life,” “Toy Story 2” and “Cars" was
now in charge of taking the famous animation studios back to
the top of the animation world."Bolt" is the first film
under the executive production of John Lasseter,
Collaborating with John was Ed Catmull, the computer
animation pioneer who helped create Pixar Animation Studios.
The film also marks the directing debut of Chris Williams
and Byron Howard.
Bolt avoids the mistakes made by previous Disney animation
films. It is not just for little kids like "Chicken Little"
and it doesn't ignore little kids like "Meet the Robinsons".
The story has enough material to please all demographics.
The film has the right combination of action, drama and
comedy, however the film lacks that defined character that
creates a clear connection with the audience.
The quality of the animation sees an improvement in "Bolt"
compared to previous Disney releases, but still the
animation is not as impressive as the animation from its
sibling studio Pixar. In another note “Bolt” is Disney’s
first animated feature to be conceived and designed for 3-D.
The previous Disney animated features—“Chicken Little” and
“Meet the Robinsons”—were released in 3-D versions, however
the post-production conversion process was created outside
of the Studio. This process paid off in the film, it gave
the movie better 3-D scenes.
There is enough entertainment to make Bolt one of the good
family films of the season. The Pixar influence was a major
upgrade for the Disney Animation Studio, putting it on track
to return to its prime days. However don't expect this
picture to make it to the famous Disney Vault. Still this is
one of the better films released by the Animation Studio in
a long time.
Review By The Critic
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