~* The journey of love and friendship *~. Review on Bolt Movie

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." ~ Anatole France

Have any movie left you thinking on these lines – pets are a much better companion and friends than humans? They don’t care if you’re fat, skinny, black, white, ugly, handicapped, married, single, gay, straight, religious, atheist or politician!

They just love you unconditionally, and accept you as who you are, with no judgment. You can hug them and be at peace whenever you feel low without first having to answer a barrage of questions. You can open your heart in front of them and cry, without getting conscious of how stupid you may appear. They are hundred percent genuine in their emotions and never fake.

And they still love you the same way till the end, when your loved one leaves your hand and walks away. All these thoughts were crossing my mind when I was watching a movie called ‘Bolt’ in the wee hours of last night. And in the silence and darkness of the night, I arrived at the conclusion that indeed pets were far superior an emotional elixir than any human anyday.

~ The journey of Bolt ~

This is the story of a small white German Shepard Bolt(John Travolta) and his journey from the confines of an unrealistic world into the hardship and beauty of factual life. A girl actor named Penny and Bolt star on a hit television series called Bolt. Bolt always thwarts the evil plans of the nefarious Doctor Calico with his various superpowers or at least he thinks so.

The producers of the show believe the program's success stems from Bolt's realistic "acting", so they have deceived Bolt his entire life, arranging the filming of the shows in such a fashion Bolt grows up thinking he really does have heat vision, a super bark, and the can stop trucks with his head. Penny, wishes to take Bolt home every night and let him be a real dog for sometime, but her sycophantic agent and the show’s director never lets that happen.

Human greed has no end to it. So they are not satisfied only in deceiving an unsuspecting animal throughout his life, but now they want something ‘extra’ for the audience. Till now all the episodes of the show ended with Bolt rescuing Penny, but guided by this craving for ‘extra’ the producer, makes sure that the latest episode ends at a point where Penny is abducted by Calico while Bolt keeps looking helplessly.

The canine’s love for the girl is so overpowering that he runs away from his safe home the moment he gets the chance, to ‘rescue’ Penny. In the frantic search inside the studio, Bolt in an attempt to break through a window, knocks himself unconscious and he falls into a box of Styrofoam peanuts. Thus he is shipped from Hollywood to New York City in the box without anyone’s knowledge.

From here begins the real journey of Bolt to reunite with his owner and co-star Penny. In New York, he meets a group of mobster pigeons who guide him to Mittens (Susie Essman), a female alley cat who bullies pigeons out of their food. Her mean spiritedness and stoicism is enough to convince Bolt that she's in cahoots with the evil Green Eyed Man and eventually takes her prisoner as the two of them embark on this life-changing journey. The cynical and sarcastic Mittens, who has a better knowledge of the world can’t believe she is accompanying this delusional dog’s in his irrational fantasies.

But as the journey progresses, the symbiotic relationship blossoms into a beautiful friendship. The more mature Mittens understands the predicament of the dog and decided to help him become a ‘real’ dog, he never was first and teaches him the arts of begging, fetching or hanging his head out of a moving car. On way they also team up with a TV-obsessed hamster named Rhino who also happens to be a rabid fan of Bolt. As the events progress Bolt realizes that he doesn’t posses any superpowers but regains his confidence after Rhino gives him a pep talk.

Mittens refuse to go farther after they reach LasVegas. She tells Bolt that his Hollywood life is fake and no one really loves him. Her emotional rant reveals that she was once a house cat, but was abandoned by her owner on the lurch. Bolt refuses to believe that Penny doesn't love him, and continues on alone. Rhino, learning of Bolt's departure, convinces Mittens that they must help him as that what friends are meant for, and the two set off to find Bolt once again.

When the three of them reach the studios finally Bolt is shaken when he sees Penny hugging his lookalike in the studio. Unaware that Penny still misses him and that her affection for the lookalike was only a part of a rehearsal for the show, he leaves, brokenhearted. But Mittens sees it all and tries to explain him everything. But before this a fire breaks inside the studio and Bolt runs off once again to save Penny. The friends reunite inside the burning building.Finally Penny quits the show, adopts Mittens and Rhino, and moves to a countryside home to enjoy a simpler, happy lifestyle with Bolt and her new pets.

~ About the movie ~

Bolt is a 2008 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, and is its 48th animated feature. It is the first film directed by Chris Williams and Byron Howard. The power packed high-octane opening of the movie juts us headlong into the unreal world of Bolt where he and Penny evade the perilous enemy along a busy California freeway. The animation is super class and sometimes one may even confuse whether it’s an animation at all. Especially the textures are amazing. The fur of Bolt when he was staying in the comfort of his home, to the haggard and disheveled one after a cross country journey is just perfect. The film has outstanding detail in the character development and backdrops; the fluidity of each chase sequence is breathtaking. The expressions on the faces of the protagonist and his companions will definitely make you moist eyed.

Contd in comments...