The Last Action Bolt
Bolt believes two things, firstly that Penny is his owner and best friend, and secondly he has super powers unaware that those super powers are part of a Hollywood magic trick as he is the star of his own movie. For all sense and purpose Bolt never stops being the super dog which he thinks he is. Then one day Bolt ends up in a box which ends up in New York City, somewhere Bolt has never been before and he is a complete fish out of water especially as he thinks he has super powers. But with the help of a cat and a hamster they will try and get Bolt back home to Penny in Hollywood.
Okay so putting it into context and "Bolt" works, for children this Disney animation will be amusing from a dog who doesn't know he is a movie star to the humorous journey home after he has been accidentally shipped to New York City. The whole idea of a dog who thinks he is a super dog and so treats everyone as if he is superior and an action hero is fun and the array of quirky animal characters which Bolt meets is typical Disney. In fact ignore the whole bit about Bolt thinking he is a super dog and what we have is a story more akin to classic Disney with the pet who ends up lost having to journey home and having an incredible adventure along the way.
On top of all of this the animations are well rendered with plenty of detail to impress young eyes but not so much that the detail ends up dominating the story. There is also the matter that "Bolt" was also shown in 3D and whilst the version this review is based on is the 2D version the depth in the animation is clear to see. In fact from an adult's point of view "Bolt" is visually impressive.
On the subject of adult point of view "Bolt" has a problem and that is it is too classic Disney as whilst you have a touch of "The Last Action Hero" with Bolt being a movie star what you end up with is the classic journey home movie such as "Homeward Bound", "Lassie Come Home", "The AristoCats" and I could go on because there are plenty more. Whilst some adults might enjoy Disney returning to a theme they have worked before I personally found it a bit old hat. Yes the jokes and characters were still funny but it didn't blow me away as it seemed to have others especially those who may be Miley Cyrus fans due to the amount of praise her voice work received
What this all boils down to is that "Bolt" is a good animation with some amusing ideas and nice animations which are sure to entertain children. But for grown ups the familiarity of the incredible journey home movie may make it just okay.
