A fulfilling fun film

Rating: 6/10 (29 November 2008)

Bolt is a fun easy to swallow romp with a soft accessible palate of caricature and lush picture-scape that easily pleases the eyes. It does not boggle the imagination nor is it an exercise in stylistic pacing, comedy, or characterization, but it's a welcome family film without pretension that offers a feel-good adventure that I certainly enjoyed. The film does have a surprising amount of human touch despite the formula and pre-packaged cute that I expected the film to use as its main source of energy. It follows yet another journey (typical of the 'cgi talking animal family film' genre) of a Buzz Light year-esquire white American Shepard with an altered perspective of reality, a notably emaciated cat, and a hamster that derives it's laughs from being a parody of the overzealous fan-boy that says "Awesome!" all the time (quite effectively, however). In the film Bolt is actually disturbingly exploited, as he is made to think he and his owner are in actual danger on a consistent basis. One wonder's how his supposed loving owner Penny would be able to take one day of that, but alas it isn't taken so seriously, as it's a premise needed for the film to exist. It was due to this however that I sympathized with his character, and the added lack of humanity came from the fact that Mittens, Bolt's accomplice for the journey, is a stray that once had a home. The emotion in this respect is treated rather typically but it strikes the right chords to teach a valuable lesson which is often absent in films featuring cute dogs and cats. The only main character un-abused by people is Rhino the hamster, who offers much of the comic relief between the confused Shepard and the captive struggling feline. The film is animated well, no shocker there for films from high-end companies like Disney, and the character movements, especially from the pigeons, keep up the spirit of animated zest. There are even some great action sequences; the fake scenes from the TV show (that are featured in the previews like they're the main film) are great as well as the more down to earth scenes. The conclusion's emotions are a tad forced, and a lot of other elements are predictable, but Bolt picks up enough steam and plays with it's situation enough to warrant it's place as a genuinely good animated film.