Bolt is a movie that will surprise you!

Rating: 9/10 (30 December 2008)

I had low expectations when I went to this movie in theatres. I knew vaguely what the plot was: A dog thinks he has superpowers but really doesn't and gains new friends. Don't get me wrong, I was excited to see this movie, I just wasn't expecting it to be so good. Right off the bat, the movie draws you in with an adorable sequence of Bolt as a puppy meeting his future owner, Penny, for the first time. Right after this scene, the movie gets a much darker tone for a couple minutes as Penny and Bolt find out her father has been kidnapped. A long scene follows where Penny and Bolt are racing to the airport to save her father from the bad guys. After this part of the movie, we find out the none of this is real and Bolt is the canine hero of a popular TV show. We find out that Bolt has been led to believe that everything that happens in his TV show is real. Meaning, Bolt would have superpowers and be fighting against a notorious supervillian. Through certain circumstances, Bolt believes that Penny has been kidnapped by the TV show's main villain. It's all fake of course and his owner wasn't really in danger at all, but poor Bolt is led to believe otherwise. Bolt accidentally gets sent thousands of miles from his home and must find a way to get home and save his owner. Along the way, Bolt gains new friends in a witty stray cat and a lovable geeky hamster. In the movie, Bolt finds that his powers are not real. Despite realizing that everything he has believed is a lie, Bolt knows he has to make it back to his owner. I won't give away the ending of this movie, but let's just say it's very touching.
Bolt has amazing music and animation. In some scenes of the movie, you could swear your watching something in real life( for instance, the first scene that shows clouds). Disney knew precisely what they were doing when they made this movie. This movie shows that, while superpowers are awesome, they don't make a hero.
I have seen this movie twice in theaters so far. I would recommend at least seeing it once on the big screen. You may want to explain the movie a little bit to children, as certain things can be hard to grasp for little kids.
Overall, I give this movie 9/10 for amazing score, animation, and story.