When Lightning Strikes
December 12, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Unsure of what to see this Christmas break? If Transporter 3 doesn't whet your appetite (which will be the case for about 97% of you), use one of those "I'll See Any Chick Flick or Disney Equivalent" coupons your boyfriend made you for your 6-month. Street Film critic Lauren Kemp's got the scoop on a tale of a canine named Bolt.
In the wake of Pixar’s unprecedented success, Walt Disney Feature Animation has fallen by the wayside, subject to fierce outside competition by Dreamworks et al. and obscured by the mammoth shadow of its sister company. The studio’s most recent effort, Bolt, attempts to break from that trend.
Disney animators have created a surefire marketing success with the character of Bolt, an incredibly cute and feisty fluff ball (despite his disproportionately large head). John Travolta provides energetic voice work as the loveable canine lead, and Miley Cyrus is much less annoying in animated form as Penny: amazingly, her 35-year-old smoker voice sounds less harsh than normal. But it's Mark Walton, as the voice of the Bolt-fanatic hamster Rhino, who steals the show.
Bolt’s animated landscapes are stunning and superior compared to other recent CGI depictions, the humans and animals less so. Pixar whiz John Lasseter executive produced, which demonstrates quite a vote of confidence. Although the film’s story is hardly original, the script packs in plenty of laughs for both adults and children. In classic Disney tradition, weepy moments punctuate the otherwise upbeat sequences. Unfortunately, some Philadelphia children were mildly traumatized at the climax (one girl wailed as if her life depended on it), but Bolt’s equally funny and saccharine mix makes it a family-friendly choice for the holiday break.
The Philadelphia screening wasn't shown in the much-hyped Disney Digital 3-D format, but honestly, there was no need for any flashy technical demonstrations. Bolt may not be the most innovative film on the block, but it brings Disney one step closer to reclaiming its animation crown.
3.5/5 stars