‘Bolt’ Prevails Due to a Small Orange Hamster
-----‘Bolt’ looked like it could be in trouble from my earliest perceptions. Focusing on the voice talent of kiddy sensation Miley Cyrus and its 3-D enhancement, this looked a bit gimmicky to me. Fortunately, the script was witty enough to hold strong for the run time, not to mention a certain orange hamster that singlehandedly produced the majority of the big laughs.
-----‘Bolt’ is your basic fish out of water story. TV action star Bolt (voiced by John Travolta), a white canine, has superpowers on his show. As a ploy by the producers, they make sure the dog never knows it doesn’t actually have powers in order to produce a more authentic performance. Penny (voiced by Miley Cyrus) is Bolt’s owner on TV, and reluctantly departs from Bolt after every show while he’s kept in a trailer, keeping him from the real world where he would find himself powerless. When Bolt is accidentally shipped to New York, stranded a long ways from Hollywood, he must make his way back to the set and his dear owner Penny. Unfortunately he’ll have to do this as he gains the knowledge of his true power, or rather lack-there-of. Helping him on his journey are a sarcastic, mangy alley cat named Mittens (voiced by Susie Essman) and a hyper hamster named Rhino (voiced by Mark Walton).
-----John Travolta does well as the ambitious and naïve Bolt. Miley Cyrus too, fills in effectively as the primary object of Bolt’s love and devotion, his owner Penny. Susie Essman is adequate and occasionally humorous as the blunt and often upset Mittens. However, the film’s greatest performance goes hands down to the always hilarious and show stealing Mark Walton, as the outrageous Rhino. Despite the convention the film often falls to, he provides huge laughs working with witty one-liners throughout his role in the film. Unfortunately, it’s not until about a third through the film that he graces the screen.
-----The film has surprisingly crisp animation for a non Pixar Disney feature. Many of the scenes are carried out effectively and smoothly including a slick opening scene where Bolt displays his powers on the Hollywood set of his show. The plot can be seen as a bit conventional at times, but the humor ultimately pleases and the characters are unique in their motives and reactions to each other. Despite many of these things working for it, I did think the climax was a bit of a let down in suspense providing what felt like a bit of a forgetful finale to the film. However, the film still wraps up nicely and the voice cast along with crisp animators pull this one through for an enjoyable 103 minutes. Without the classic character Rhino the hamster, the film doesn’t survive the convention, but with Rhino it soars through many comedic scenes with ease.
-----Overall the film is a bit forgetful save Rhino. It will provide good entertainment for youngsters, teens, and parents alike, but probably won’t earn a spot on the list of recent animated classics like many of the Pixar and DreamWorks films. Despite a few shortcomings, the film is a strong entry into the Disney animation group which is so often left in Disney Pixar’s dust. I look forward to seeing more animated features from Walt Disney Animation Studios like ‘Bolt,’ and hope to see the character of Rhino return in years to come.
