Bolt

[Shin Johnpv]

I just got back from seeing this in 3D and I have to say I was really surprised. The 3D effects were very well done, story was alright though a bit predictable in spots, but the animation is Disney's best in CG to date.

I have to say, they really nailed the way a dog moves and acts. I was really just impressed with that. I thought there was a thread for this already but I couldn't find one.

Anyway I walked away from this really impressed with the animation, and with just how perfectly the nailed the actual mannerisms of a dog.

[Dolemite]

It bothers me that you're talking more about how they nailed tha animation of a poochie than how the movie was actually entertaining, but it's understandable, given what you go to school for.

[Drewbacca]

It just seemed a bit TOO generic from the previews. I liked the name American Dog way more than BOLT. It just wreaks of cliché, I guess. But then again this is a children's movie first, so I have nothing to complain about in that regard. I'll probably see it when it comes OnDemand.

[Finch]

It bothers me that you're talking more about how they nailed tha animation of a poochie than how the movie was actually entertaining, but it's understandable, given what you go to school for.

I see where Shin's coming from. Watching the clips in HD, the detail is fantastic. The story looks like a big mess of entertainment, and who's surprised? This isn't Synecdoche here.

I liked the name American Dog way more than BOLT.

American Dad, Family Dog, American Rabbit, Ghost Dog, American Splendor. There's a lot of American and a lot of Dog, Bolt is no worse than any of it.

[YellerDog]

I'm not sure how I feel about another Buzz Lightyear protagonist, but that bit with the hampster drawing the smiley face on the ball has convinced me to see this.

[Shin Johnpv]

It bothers me that you're talking more about how they nailed tha animation of a poochie than how the movie was actually entertaining, but it's understandable, given what you go to school for.

Dude it's really that impressive. I don't know I think any dog owner will be impressed with how much Bolt moves and acts like a dog. The pigeons too, it's freaky how well animated those are. It was really entertaining though too. Sussie Essman did a great job as the voice of the cat, Travolta was good as Bolt, I honestly couldn't tell it was him most the time. The only disappointing thing I thought was that all of the hamsters best lines were all in the trailer. He still has some good stuff through the rest of the movie, but the best one's to me were the ones they showed in the trailer.


If you see it check it out in 3D, the 3d was really good in it. They handled it for the most part the way I prefer, where they use the 3D to create depth in the image, instead of having shit coming out towards the camera. So everything for the most part was nice and set back and just gave a nice scale and depth to the world.

[YellerDog]

This was alright! Thoughts and nitpicks:

Bolt really was brilliantly animated, so was a lot of the hamster stuff. Bolt's "powers" are totally great. Totally wonderful design, he was really well thought out.

The cat seemed weirdly constructed? Like they couldn't figure out a good balance between stylized and realistic for the 'half-starved cat' and just went with the first thin-lookin' thing they came up with. Fucking thing looked like the huge head was going to tip it over at all times. The green eyed man's black cat was a much, much better design.

The animation on the secondary human characters really kind of sucks, too. Lots of herky-jerky walks, really dumb looking cloth simulation. I can see a lot of 'em working well as drawings on paper. You get a lot of side views of characters designed to be seen in 3/4, like the thug-ish henchmen whose car gets wrecked, who just looks like a weird stiff-spined fish or something from the side. Poor form. The "replacement Penny" was a far better design than the one they went with, to boot. She looks like a weird plastic doll-thing. You can almost see her being designed by committee in every detail, super generic.

I really liked how over-designed the Tee Vee action sequences were. Penny's HUD even had a ton of little details on it, like "blink twice to confirm", nice touch. All the bad guy henchmen had really neat-o gadgets, and I really liked how well they set up the gags with 'em. (The 'd'oh!' moment where the guy electrocutes himself was a favorite). The Hollywood "WHOLE WHEAT IS NOT THE SAME AS WHOLE GRAIN" pitch-pigeons were a nice touch.

I liked the gauche-y 2D end credit sequence.

All-in-all, good story, excellent main character, some really neat action sequences, worth checkin' out on the dee-vee-dee if you're not inclined to see the chillin's movies in the theater.

"I'll snap his neck!"

[Finch]

I almost agree, but my opinions are slightly different. I enjoyed the kitty and thought Penny was cute as a button. Some of the peoples really looked weird, though. That's Dreamworks, it's not okay for Disney. Also, did you find the parts where Bolt puts himself in danger massively disturbing? It was strange and a brilliant contrast to invinci-dog. The traveling the US scene made me misty. They were following my route up until the Rocky mountains. Also the part where Bolt curled up by Penny during the fire was so sad. Overall, super clever, super cute, and a super chunk of entertainment. 3.99999999999986/5. I recommend it on the big screen!

[Dolemite]

Saw it last night. Very cute movie. John's right, the animation and physical humor were brilliantly done, although I also agree with Yellerdog's opinion that the humans suffered a bit in comparison. I also thought the story was a tad on the bland side at first, but it picked up as the flick went along. Also, the voice acting was excellent all around. Overall, it was very entertaining.

I also have to say that this movie served to illustrate why Pixar are the mack daddies of CG storytelling these days. Bolt was very solid, but it was missing that layer of depth and emotion that Pixar manages to effortlessly convey in their movies. Bolt was a lot fun, but in some ways it was a tad generic compared to something like WALL-E.

My girlfriend got a massive attack of the cutes every time the hampster was on-screen.

Best character, IMO- the happy carrot!

I liked the gauche-y 2D end credit sequence.

Me too.

[Seik]

Went to go see this with the entire family last night as part of our Thanksgiving festivities. Everyone liked it. Cross generational appeal, imo.