Exceptional!

Rating: 10/10 (15 February 2009)

I think the title of this review, in my opinion, sums up Bolt in one word. The adorable characters and the action-packed sequences left your emotions going all over the place in this one of a kind animated adventure.
The outline story is about a dog, but this dog is slightly different from the rest, he is a legend of the small screen as the star of his own TV show, Bolt; a super-dog that will do all it takes to protect his owner and best friend, Penny. There is just one big problem, Penny is Bolt's actual real owner, who never gets any time with Bolt outside filming for the TV show, and Bolt believes that the show that he stars in is actually for real. He believes he has superpowers and is always on the looking out stop the 'green-eyed' villain from getting hold of Penny.
One day in film production, a scene featuring Penny being kidnapped by the bad guys sends Bolt running out of the studio and going to look for Penny believing that she really has been kidnapped.
The film sees Bolt in the real world (where he has no super powers) and discovers who he really is. Along the way he 'captures' a cat (who he sees as a villain) called Mittens, and bumps into a rather hyper-active hamster (Rhino).
The films has a mix of genres, and Rhino provides a lot of funny dialogue, which works really well.
Another treat in this film is that you can see it in 3D, and it really makes it so much more realistic, I loved how the 3D made the action sequences so realistic. at you from the screen, one bit that really sticks in my mind was the syringe coming at you! I would definitely recommend seeing it in 3D.
However, there is one thing that, for me personally, made this fantastic. From what I've heard and read many people have said that it was 'hilarious' and a great animated comedy. For me, I don't think the comedy was the best bit. What I really liked about this film was that it had heart. I loved watching Bolt making discoveries about himself that he never knew about (e.g. the window on the trailer scene) which was full of warmth, music in these scenes in particular worked very well indeed. It left you feeling really emotional. But then it was a scene near the end that really did it for me, after all the action, the heart and determination of Bolt really did bring a tear to my eye, something I don't think any other animated film has ever done. Was it the 3D that made it so realistic (you could almost feel Bolt's fur) or the great work done on the animation, a combination of both? Never have I come out of an animated film feeling so emotional. Before seeing this film I read a quote from the chief creative officer of Disney animated studios who said that he believed in the words of Walt Disney himself "for every laugh, there should be a tear". They got it spot on in 'Bolt'.
Overall, I can't express enough how awesome 'Bolt' is. By far I would recommend you see this one of a kind film.