Bolt's just a normal dog, and his story's pretty ordinary as well

Credit: Disney Photo

On his way home from New York, Bolt makes friends with an alley cat and a hamster.

By: -- Christy Lemire | Winston-Salem Journal
Published: November 20, 2008

Harmless as a puppy, Bolt comes bounding into theaters, stumbling over its big, goofy paws, wagging its fluffy tail and begging to play ball.

It's sweet and eager to please but, sadly, nothing special. Girl finds dog, girl loses dog, girl gets dog back.

This animated 3-D adventure follows a scrappy, white shelter mutt named Bolt (voiced by John Travolta) who isn't a superhero, but he plays one on TV. Trouble is, he has no idea he's an actor in a role. He thinks he's really saving plucky, young Penny (Miley Cyrus) -- his "person," as he's so proud to call her -- from bad guys and explosions.

When Bolt accidentally gets shipped across the country from Hollywood to New York, in a contrived fashion, he must make that tried-and-true, intrepid trek back home. Travolta shows some lovely glimmers of vulnerability here, especially once he realizes he's just a normal dog.

Along the way, he befriends the street-wise, wisecracking alley cat, Mittens (Susie Essman in a slightly less vulgar mode than you'd find her on Curb Your Enthusiasm), and the overeager, overfed hamster Rhino (the scene-stealing Mark Walton), who's obsessed with television and is psyched about the prospect of being Bolt's sidekick.

Bolt is the first animated feature created and executed under longtime Pixar guru John Lasseter, but it lacks the complexity of story and depth of character you so often find in previous Pixar releases such as Toy Story, Monsters Inc., The Incredibles and this year's outstanding WALL-E.

As for the 3-D, it will suffice. Bolt could have survived without it and still have been as diverting. Thankfully, it doesn't fling anything at you gratuitously. Rather, with the help of some inordinately sturdy dark glasses, the 3-D effect provides Bolt with a pleasing sense of texture, an effortless tangibility in the blades of grass or the hair on the back of the lost pup's neck.

Bolt certainly moves along at a lively clip that will satisfy both kids and adults, but the script (from Williams and Dan Fogelman) is a little too Hollywood-insider. The director of the Bolt TV series (voiced with typical pomposity by James Lipton) obsesses over a boom mike in the frame. Penny's slick, shallow agent (Greg Germann) wants her to get over the loss of her furry friend.