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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board    Reviews    Movie, Television and DVD Reviews  ›  Bolt Moderators: Nixon
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JonnyBoy
Posted: February 18th, 2009, 4:18pm Report to Moderator
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Just got back from seeing Bolt at the cinema. I know it's been out for about three months Stateside, but it only came out a couple of weeks ago here and I wanted to go see it the way it was meant to be - 3D. It, and particularly the technology behind it, impressed me.

Very quick plot summary: the main character, a dog called Bolt, is the star of a hugely successful TV show, about a super-powered dog who continually rescues his 'person', a girl called Penny, from the nefarious schemes of the evil, cat-loving Green-Eyed Man. In order to try and get a more convincing performance from Bolt, the cast and crew maintain the illusion that everything is real; Bolt really thinks he has super-powers. In an effort to boost flagging ratings, the staff behind the show end the current series on a cliff-hanger, with Penny being kidnapped by the Green-Eyed Man. Bolt, thinking her to be in actual danger, breaks out of the set and tries to rescue her. He ends up in New York, and recruits a cat (Mittens) and a hamster in a ball (Rhino) to travel across America back to Hollywood to be reunited with Penny.

It's a standard Disney plot. It's exec produced by John Lassiter, and there is a strong whiff of Toy Story about it (Bolt, like Buzz, thinking he's real when he is in fact not). It's not as good as Toy Story, but this is still a really enjoyable film. Rhino is a very funny character, an obese hamster who's obsessed with Bolt having watched him on 'the magic box', and he comes out with some great lines: "Ring ring. Hello? Ah, destiny. I've been expecting your call."

It has a happy ending, and the obligatory sad parts in the middle. It's in no way original, but some of the dialogue was genuinely amusing. John Travolta isn't the greatest voice actor in the world, and at times it kinda sounded like he was struggling with a sore throat, but he was fine. The animation, as you'd expect, was flawless and great to look at; it might not be a Pixar film, but Disney know what they're doing, too.

However, the main reason I wanted to see this was the 3D thing. And having seen this, I think that 3D might just be here to stay this time. The emphasis is no longer on having things fly off the screen at you. The aim of the technology seemed to be to conjure the sense of depth, of the image having a foreground and a background. And that worked really, really well. The final big set piece, where Bolt tries to save Penny from a real-life fire, was particularly impressive. Smoke and flames crackles all around, and there is a real sense of space.

I was really impressed by the whole thing. The trailers before the film were all for 3D films coming out this year - Monsters vs. Aliens, Ice Age 3 and Up. I'm now really looking forward to them, and, of course, I'm now even more excited to see what Cameron's cooked up for Avatar. The technology seems to be here, so lord knows what he's done with it. 3D has come of age, and it looks great.

So, in conclusion: this film is really two things: a by the numbers Disney story, and a good experiment in 3D. If you saw it in 2D, or if you plan to see it in 2D, then you'll probably enjoy it, but in 3D, it's actually very impressive.

So...my ratings:

Opening: 8/10 (cute puppy Bolt. followed big, showy sequence with Bolt in action in TV series)
Story: 6/10 (pretty standard Disney story, cute but familiar)
Characters: 7/10 (at least 3 of that is for Rhino, the agent I didn't like)
Dialogue: 7/10 (some funny lines, some sweet lines)
Performances: 7/10 (Travolta could be more 'animated')
Visuals: 9/10 (well animated, 3D great)
Music: 6/10 (fine, not memorable in the same way Pixar films are)
Entertainment value: 8/10 (I laughed, I went 'wow' at the 3D a few times)
Appeal range: 8/10 (obviously aimed at young kids, but I enjoyed it, and the parents of the kids seemed to too)
Rewatch value: 6/10 (not sure if it'll be as good on DVD as a 2D film)

Total: 72/100 - a fun film that also shows that we should be excited about the rebirth of 3D


Guess who's back? Back again?

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Nixon  -  February 20th, 2009, 3:26pm
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