Bolt.

"An Incredible Journey or Homeward Bound updated for the superhero era, Bolt is an OK Disney animated entry enhanced by nifty 3-D projection," writes Variety's Todd McCarthy. "The first inhouse feature from Disney Animation since Pixar guru John Lasseter took over the studio's creative reins, this tale of a canine forced to overcome his superdog complex and learn to become a regular pooch bears some telltale signs of Pixar's trademark smarts, but still looks like a mutt compared to the younger company's customary purebreds."

"Setting the dimensional stage with an extended action sequence that shows off the fresh technology, the story-within-the-story kicks in revealing TV superdog Bolt ([John] Travolta) to be unaware that his villain-chasing studio environment is really all make-believe," writes the Hollywood Reporter's Michael Rechtshaffen.

Updated through 11/21.

"Yes, this is The Truman Show with talking animals," writes New York's David Edelstein. "It's a fascinating trend: state-of-the-art Hollywood fantasies pegged to the notion that state-of-the-art Hollywood fantasies are our chief impediment to being 'real.'"

"As a visual development artist for Walt Disney Animation Studios, Mark Walton normally toils far from public view," writes Brooks Barnes for the New York Times. But he's "the unlikely voice of Rhino, an overweight, television-obsessed hamster who is shaping up to be the film's breakout character. (Sorry, Bolt.)"

For AICN, Capone talks with Susie Essman, who "plays a stray New York cat named Mittens, who is as tough as nails even though she's declawed."

Updates, 11/19: "As I laughed my head off, I wondered what it means that children's movies have become the playground for Hollywood's self-loathing," writes Ella Taylor in the Voice. "Yet the self-mockery in Bolt is gentle and affectionate, and there's something touching about the yearning for ordinary life and decency that, to judge by its ubiquity in films for the nominally innocent, plagues those who live and work in the realms of the unreal."

"One can forgive a Disney cartoon for having predictable plot beats, but Bolt exists in a strange plane regarding what it expects kids to understand about show business," writes Alonso Duralde for MSNBC. "On the one hand, it throws around gags about boom mikes, method acting, agents and writers' pitches that assume its young viewers came out of the womb reading Entertainment Weekly; on the other, we're supposed to willfully forget everything we know about how TV is actually made.... It will make a preferable alternative to a third viewing of Beverly Hills Chihuahua or High School Musical 3, but it's nowhere near the level of any of the Pixar titles or of last year's underrated charmer Meet the Robinsons."

Bolt "further proof that Pixar's greatest strength doesn't derive simply from Lasseter's (admittedly vital) imagination but, instead, from its collaborative environment of uniquely creative minds," writes Nick Schager in Slant. "Still, from its colorful, dexterous animation - given a high-gloss shine and depth by 3D effects that, mercifully, don't resort to stuff-jumping-off-the-screen gimmicks - to its combination of humor and pathos, Bolt is perfectly amiable but rarely brisk, with neither its premise nor its execution quite inspired enough to elicit more than faint admiration."

Updates, 11/21: "While artisanal Pixar touches abound in the exquisitely detailed animation, the story shows some signs of repurposing and committee work," writes AO Scott in the New York Times. "Bolt's situation is a bit like Buzz Lightyear's in Toy Story - he must learn that what he thinks of as his true identity is an artifact of make-believe - and a lot like Lightning McQueen's in Cars.... But if Bolt... does not quite rise to the level of bona fide Pixar masterpieces like Wall-E, Finding Nemo and Ratatouille, it does manage to be frisky, funny and inventive enough to engage the attention of grown-ups as well as children."

"Bolt is just too knowing; it keeps reminding us, loud and clear, of how culturally savvy it is," writes Stephanie Zacharek in Salon. "Bolt, with its numerous winks and nudges, reminds us how attuned we are to the falseness of pop culture, which isn't the same thing as connecting us with its truths."

"[F]rom the moment Bolt sticks his head out the window of a speeding truck and feels the breeze of freedom and free will, the picture snaps to life and instantly acquires heart (Lasseter's favorite movie organ)." Richard Corliss in Time: "Of course each character gets to show a heroism all the more special for being displayed without special effects. Indeed, Rhino's climactic declaration of purpose - that 'All my dreaming has prepared me for this moment' - might be the motto, not just of this very satisfying film, but of the Disney-Pixar animators. They're smart kids who dream for a living."

Megan Seling in the Stranger: "The only gripe I have is this: If you're going to make a movie 3-D, make it fucking 3-D. I want to see shit flying at my face. I want to be ducking and jumping and screaming and doing all that stuff you're supposed to do when watching a 3-D movie. Don't just make the grass look a little closer to me than the dog. That's boring."

"At the end of the day, Bolt is a sweet Disney family film, but Lasseter's oversight has made it smarter than it otherwise would have been," writes Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times.

"For the first time in years, it feels like Disney has done its namesake proud," writes Tasha Robinson at the AV Club.

"[P]ure Pixar lite," finds Stephen Garrett in Time Out New York.

Posted by dwhudson at November 17, 2008 8:46 AM