Review of Bolt (2008) by Halfwelshman — 09 Jan 2012

While it's not perfect by any means, Bolt is the film that shows Disney finally returning to form after nearly a decade of sub-par films. The easiest way to look at Bolt is like an animated version of The Truman Show that becomes a road movie about halfway through.

It works as a film on both accounts, having some clever things to say about network television and providing you with some nice juicy morals, and giving you some pretty animated scenery to oggle at on the way.

The voice cast are all good - playing the title role,Travolta gives his best performance since The Thin Red Line, and Susie Essman's streetwise feline mittens and especially Mark Walton's psychotic hamster super-fan Rhino are constantly entertaining.

It's also a stroke of genius casting Miley Cyrus as child star and Bolt's owner Penny. The animation is stunning across the board, but what particularly impresses is that the animators have struck the perfect balance between realistically recreating animal movement and mannerisms, and anthropomorphising the characters for empathy purposes.

Bolt is a perfectly enjoyable, often clever and funny animation that only just lacks the creativity, universal appeal and heart of Pixar's best efforts. Pixar, for now at least, still holds the torch of exceptional animation high, but Disney is closing in fast - thank goodness, it's been a while.