Review: Bolt

Bolt

Disney

Disney’s new animated movie about a dog who doesn’t realize he’s the star of a TV show has sparked different desires in different people. Execs hope the flick will revitalize the studio’s flagging animation division. (It’s the first film overseen entirely by Pixar cofounder John Lasseter.) Kids want to put on their 3-D glasses and marvel at the dazzling visual effects. And parents? Well, they just pray that Bolt will be less painful than Beverly Hills Chihuahua.

There’s good news for those last two camps. (Disney suits will need to wait for weekend box-office grosses to see if their dreams are fulfilled.) Bolt is satisfying family entertainment. At once a coming-of-age flick, a buddy comedy and a road picture, it recalls The Truman Show, but with supercute animals. While it’s not an instant classic—the characters, charming as they are, don’t seem destined to become Nemo-style icons—there’s enough smart but sweet humor to keep adults smiling.

Bolt (a surprisingly subdued John Travolta) is a white German shepherd who mistakenly believes the action series he appears in alongside Penny (Miley Cyrus) is real. After he’s accidentally mailed to New York, he slowly figures out that his superbark and laser-beam eyes were actually Hollywood tricks. Still, he pines to return to his home and, more specifically, to his human.

On his cross-country journey he picks up two strangers: a scraggly cat called Mittens (Susie Essman) and Rhino (the scene-stealing Mark Walton), an obese hamster who happens to be Bolt’s No. 1 fan. Along the way, they learn the usual lessons about the value of friendship and believing in oneself.

The opening Matrix-style action sequence (truly eye-popping in 3-D) will delight those over five but may be a little intense for tots. Meanwhile, the showbiz satire will tickle adults but will likely go over children’s heads—as will the irony of teen idol and tabloid-target Miley Cyrus voicing a character who decides that she prefers the simple life to stardom. At long last, Disney has made an animated pic that isn’t a total dog.—Raven Snook

Find out where Bolt is playing near you.

For a child's take on the movie, check out Kid Picks.