Bolt (John Travolta) is his name and fighting evil is his game. Sinister felines and ominous humans beware because this super dog is in town and he is ready to kicking tail and take names. Any unfortunate evil doers brave enough to mess with Bolt’s “person” fondly named Penny (Miley Cyrus) will have to face the wrath of his laser beam eyes, his atomic bark, and head of steel. He will stop at nothing in order to keep her safe.
Unbeknownst to our beloved canine this life is really all a façade and he is not an indestructible super dog destined to save the world from the menacing Dr. Calico. He is nothing more than a Hollywood actor dog that has been sheltered from “the real world.” Directors, cast and PR agents have gone to great lengths to ensure that Bolt is secluded from this real world and tricked into believing this life is in fact his reality.
For Bolt, life is good. He has a person who loves him and a life in which he believes he has super powers. All this changes though when he “escapes” to the real world and is accidentally shipped in a box of “evil styrofoam” to New York City. While in the City Bolt meets up with a emaciated cat named Mittens (Susie Essman) who resembles the cat of Dr. Calico. Upon meeting Mittens Bolt thinks she actually is the wicked cat of Calico and he captures her and forces her to help him get back to California so he can save Penny. Still believing he is a super dog Bolt begins to notice that his powers are not working and he attributes this to “evil Styrofoam” which weakens him and Mittens takes upon herself to get Bolt to understand that he is in fact a normal dog who has no powers. On their journey back west Bolt and Mittens meet up with and overzealous fan of Bolt named Rhino (Mark Walton) who is a hamster.
As the three journey together they get captured and thrown into an animal shelter, Bolt realizes he is just a regular dog and learns how to enjoy life as a regular dog, and finally make to Hollywood where Bolt finally is reunited with Penny; but not without incident. Bolt sees Penny petting and hugging an imposter Bolt so he turns tail and leaves the studio. In a freak incident a fire breaks out in the studio and Penny is trapped inside so Bolt must go back to save her (since this is his life’s purpose) without his super powers.
All in all Bolt is a fantastic DVD with a great story, a wonderful cast of characters and an underlying message of love and loyalty. I think this is one of Disney’s best CGI releases since Meet The Robinsons. This three disc Blue Ray, DVD and Digital Copy is worth every penny. There are countless extra’s which include “Super Rhino Short”, a behind the scenes feature with John Travolta and Miley Cyrus, a music video featuring Cyrus and Travolta, deleted scenes, games, a look at how the creators made the film and much, much more. I love the digital copy included as I am able to copy it to my iPod and computer and my children can watch it anytime or anywhere. I would HIGHLY recommend this three disc set with all it’s features and bonuses as it will be hours of fun for the whole family.
Reviewed by Jeff Holton
