Bolt

Bolt

Everyone seems to hate their job at the movies.  I’m like, free movies and popcorn, what job could be better.  They all roll their eyes and say, lots of jobs.

So I’m guessing maybe one day I’ll come to loathe this job just as I have every other job I’ve ever had.  But for now, this might be the most cake job ever.

And I mean popcorn cake.

I went and saw two movies with my new free movie privileges over the past week. Transporter 3, which did kick some ass, and Bolt in Real 3D. 

Both were pretty good.  I have to admit I started to mist up a bit at the end of Bolt. And the 3D technology is crazy.  This little kid sitting behind us said, it looks like things are coming out of the TV.

Duh.

The best part was another little kid sitting behind us.  She had the sweetest little laugh.  When something funny happened, she would just giggle and giggle.  And that really was better than anything in the movie.

But all in all, Bolt isn’t bad.  It’s certainly no Finding Nemo or Toy Story.  Or even Cars for that matter.  But it’s a good animated film for kids and adults. 

Transporter 3 was better than I thought it was gonna be.  It was kinda like Escape from New York where they poisoned Snake Pliskin and he had to do what they wanted in order to get the antidote, except they slapped a bracelet on Frank’s (Jason Statham’s) wrist that would explode if he got too far away from the car.

And his package this time around was a very nice little blue eyed, freckle faced red head.  Mmm…blue eyed, freckle faced red head.  She was worth the price of admission.  Of course I see movies for free now….

It’s action packed.  Has lots of cool fight scenes and killer race scenes.  What’s not to like?  And did I mention the blue eyed, freckle faced red head?

Cal Reed

Bolt

Disney Animation Studios makes a comeback after killing itself with Chicken Little and Meet The Robinsons with Bolt.Which, surprisingly is a pretty darn cool movie.



Bolt is about a dog named Bolt who's voiced by John Trovolta. Bolt is the star of is own show where he is a super dog with superpowers and has to protect his owner from being kidnapped by these terrorist who wants to use her to blackmail her dad into making weapons for them. The problem is that Bolt thinks that the whole TV show is real. He genuinely believes his owner voiced by Miley Cyrus is in danger and that he has superpowers. So when a mishap happens and Bolt escapes into the real world, he gets into all kinds of trouble cause he still thinks he's a super dog and he goes on this road trip to try and reunite with his owner.



Think Buzz Lightyear and Homeward Bound and you'll get Bolt. It's the classic Disney story of some guy who thinks he's special but finds out he was living a lie but through the challenges in the movies, he learns that he is special in his own way. Bla bla bla, how touching. We've seen this a million times but Bolt has what most Disney animated films have been lacking lately. An interesting story!



Finally after a decade of crap fest, Disney is finally making good movie again. Bolt isn't one of the best they've done but it's the best they've done in a long time. The storyline of Bolt is predictable but what makes this movie work is the charm of it's characters. The three main characters are incredibly enjoyable to watch. We have Bolt who's still naive and practically walking into all sorts of dangerous shit because he thinks he's superman. Then we have Mittens who's this cat that gets dragged along Bolts quest and has to deal with all the crazy things Bolt puts them through.



And finally we have Rhino who is by far the funniest awesomest character from Disney this year. He's Bolt's No. 1 fan and spends most of the film gawking over him like how a Star Trek nerd would be if he saw Leonard Nimoy. Rhino is so hilarious to watch and I'm not surprise if Disney makes a spin-off series with him.



The other thing I love about Bolt is the opening sequence of this movie where we get an action scene which sets up the whole premise of the show. And damn that action scene was muthafuckingly amazingly awesome! It was just like the motorcycle chase scene from Advent Children only it had a dog and Hanna Montana in it hahaha.



And the great part is that it was Disney intentionally making fun of itself cause the action scene is very much like the kind of action scenes we see in Jerry Bruckheimer movies where there's lots of slow mos and the zooming in on the weirdest stuff. It was brilliant. And they didn't even try to hide the fact that they were parodying Bruckheimer, the made it incredibly obvious.



Bolt is great and I hope that Disney can keep this up when Princess and the Frog comes out next year.

RATING: 6/10

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NicholasC

BOLT (2008)

BOTTOM LINE: A wonderfully entertaining animated film with a strong story and characters, and with an unusual premise that borrows from The Truman Show.

THE GOOD: “Bolt” is an unusual film in that all the hallmarks of the typical journey you would find in a movie like this are here but the underlying premise is quite strange. Bolt (voiced by John Travolta) is a dog who is the star of a fictional television show; the twist is that he thinks it’s all real. With superpowers and a devotion to his “person” Penny (Miley Cyrus), Bolt spends his time saving Penny and the world from the green-eyed man, thinking that this is his normal life. When Bolt escapes this world and the television studio by a series of accidents, he finds himself in the real world where he is a normal dog without superpowers, much to his surprise. The resulting interactions between Bolt and the real-life animal characters are quite amusing and touching, particularly with Mittens the cat (Susie Essman) and the devoted hamster Rhino (Mark Walton) who continues to believe Bolt is a super dog even in the real world. Some of the creators behind Disney’s biggest animated films are behind this film and this shows prominently in the fantastic execution of the story and character, and the unusual premise upon which the whole thing rests. The character animation is quite good, particularly in the opening sequence where Bolt first meets Penny in the pet store, which leads in to a hilarious episode of “Bolt” saving the world from the green-eyed man (voiced by an evil sounding Malcolm McDowell). “Bolt” is a wonderfully entertaining animated film that both children and adults can enjoy.

THE BAD: The only aspect to “Bolt” that falls down is in the originality of its premise, or in this case, the lack of it. The idea of a character who does not know his life is a television show was extensively covered in “The Truman Show” with Jim Carrey, and as such, some of what we see here is not new. However, the sincerity of the characters and the amusing situations they find themselves in more than make up for this, to the point where it is not much of an issue.

RATING: 8/10

Todd Murphy <br />
http://www.allaboutmovies.net

Bolt

There was a time when Disney animation was all 2D, hand drawn things of  beauty. Since Home on the Range, though, it seems as if Disney has been more of  a computer animated company. Thank goodness for the forthcoming Pricess and the Frog!
Bolt tells us the tale of a dog who knows noting but life as a TV canine. THe makers of the show do everything they can to keep Bolt in the dark. The whole plot reminds me of a watered dn Truman Show, but with animals.
Voices for this film range from John Travolta, as Bolt to Miley Cyrus as Penny to Malcom McDowell as Dr. Calico and a host of others.
As with any buddy picture, there are characters that steal the film.  Those characters  in this film are the pigeons and Rhino, the hamster. These guys are just hilarious.
When the film opened and got past the buying of Bolt scene, it gave the illusion of a nonstop action flick. I was highly impressed.
The animation is obviously not Pixar, but it is pretty good. Nothing really sticks out in terms of details and whatnot.
I apologize for the shortness and discojointment of this review. I just took some meds and am fighting the Sandman. Before I fall asleep, let me say this…Bolt is a great animated picture that will entertain and astound you. While is is mostly an action/comedy, there are a few touching scenes that tug on your heart strings, as well as a cat that will crush your dreams with her cynicism. It is with good conscience that I full recommend this to each an every one of you. Enjoy!

http://thankyounetflix.wordpress.com

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