Bolt
Rated: PG
It's so hard to find a family film that worth championing. You either have unwatchable pap like Beverly Hills Chihuahua or mediocre half-assed fare like Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. Even my current favorite of the year, Wall-E isn't a film I'd necessarily define as a "family" film although I think everyone in the family can enjoy it (my friend Alice, who came away from the film feeling completely and utterly depressed, has no family; she is a product of spores). But Bolt is a family film I can whole-heartedly recommend even if it manipulated the hell out of me by being utterly adorable. Bolt won me over in the first minute by having Bolt as a puppy wrestling with a chew toy. If the film was just that for ninety minutes, I would still love it. But the filmmakers decided not to coast on that and actually provide a story: Bolt (voiced by John Travolta) has what I'd like to call "Buzz Lightyear-syndrome": he thinks because he plays a super-powered pup on TV, he actually has super-powers. This isn't Bolt's fault: the director wants Bolt method acting so everyone, including his owner Penny (voiced by Miley Cyrus), keeps him in the dark. But when an episode ends in a cliff-hanger instead of with Penny rescued, Bolt breaks out of his confinement only to end up on the opposite side of the country and working to make his way back home. Along the way, he crosses paths with the world-weary alley cat Mittens (voiced by Susie Essman who does great work even when she's not cursing up a storm at Jeff Garlin on Curb Your Enthusiasm) and a hyper-active hamster and Bolt's biggest fan named Rhino (voiced by Mark Walton). While there's nothing original or groundbreaking about Bolt, there's rarely anything cynical. There's an over-zealous agent who's too annoying to be comedic but other than that, it's a fun ride. Bolt comes through with the same energy as though no other film has done this before and that earnestness and drive kept me wholly entertained throughout. Unfortunately, while that energy makes for a great movie-going experience, the lack of originality has the film fading fast from my memory. But Bolt isn't aiming to be the year's most memorable film. It's trying to be a family film that the whole family can enjoy rather than a movie that parents are dragged to by their kids and then forced to sit and regret their lives while a talking Chihuahua makes them regret the decision to reproduce. Everyone in the family can enjoy Bolt and if someone in your family doesn't, then it's time to send them away like we did with Nancy, my ex-little sister who didn't enjoy Toy Story. Words by |