Movie Review – Bolt 3D

Bolt (John Travolta) is a superdog. He uses his powers to continually protect his owner Penny (Miley Cyrus) from the evil plans of Dr. Calico (Malcolm McDowell). Unfortunately, this is all a deception. Penny is an actress, Bolt isn’t super, and Calico’s henchmen are all stuntmen. When ratings slip, the Hollywood studio plans a storyline involving Penny’s kidnap, but thinking it’s real, Bolt heads off to rescue her, finding himself (through a series of mishaps) in New York. On his quest to find Penny, he teams up with a reluctant cat called Mittens (Susie Essman) and a fanboy hamster called Rhino (Mark Walton).
It’s another Pixar effort, and another take on the voyage of self-discovery done so well in Toy Story.
Visually it’s stunning, and in 3D it’s breathtaking. The script is also excellent, as are the voice performances. I even loved the opening sequence, which really threw me. The problem is that once the story starts proper, it’s more of the same, really. You know there’s going to be a flashback to a lonely character’s happy family past (along with mournful female vocal). You know the hero will have a moment of harsh epiphany and lose faith in himself. Been there, done that. It’s highly enjoyable, though, and that’s down mostly to Rhino. Never before has a (couch-potato, nerdy) hamster been so successfully and hilariously brought to the screen. If I see it again, it’ll be for Rhino.