Better than I was expecting. Cute, sometimes touching.

Rating: 7/10 (5 December 2008)

Bolt- The canine star Bolt (John Travolta) of a fictional sci-fi/action show that believes his powers are real embarks on a cross country trek to save his co-star human Penny (Miley Cyrus) from a threat he believes is just as real. Basically it's "Underdog" meets "The Truman Show", but there is nothing new under the sun, so no sense beating it up for that. I was expecting a snooze fest only palatable for small children, who will delight in this by the way. I was mistaken. Though the premise is shaky, with obvious plot holes as big as you like (Since when do Dogs act?), it's a sweet little movie, and the kids won't care. The humor is pretty broad but there's something for everyone.
John Travolta, an actor I haven't liked in quite some time, gives a genuinely cute performance as a young dog coming to grips with reality. Miley Cyrus also gives a decent performance. It's nice to hear Susie Essman (Here playing the cat Mittens) without the trademark F-bombs dropped in "Curb Your Enthusiasm". Who is absolutely wonderful, and I doubt I'm alone on this one, is the little couch potato hamster Rhino (Mark Walton, who has made his career with this). He's an obsessive fanboy of Bolt's TV show, and has such aplomb and over-enthusiasm that he steals every scene he's in, and probably the entire movie too. He's probably my favorite "side character" in years.
It's a nice film, with decent laughs and some fun action sequences. Once it sheds the convoluted TV show premise the film is allowed the breathe and have more fun. While it's hardly in the ranks of WALL-E, The Incredibles or Ratatouille, it's still a fun movie. B.