Cats should sue for discrimination. They get such a bad rap. Think about it, man's best friend versus an evil kitty cat? Methinks bullshit...
Anyhoo, to further this tradition of evil cinema kitties and heroic pups is Disney's latest, Bolt. Feeling reminiscent of an animated canine Truman Show, Bolt weaves the tale (or tail, get it?) of a show dog named Bolt (look who's talking now, John Travolta) who thinks he's a superpup who needs to rescue his owner Penny (voiced annoyingly by Miley Cyrus--tweens celebrate). He accidentally gets separated from his "person" and somehow ends up on the mean streets of NYC.
Okay, so this is a kids' flick, no doubt, but man is 3D pretty wicked cool, and deep down, Bolt is a friendship-building, finding yourself, road trip movie with animated dogs, wise ass cats, and fat hamsters. As someone who loves any fat animated animals (Remy's bro in Ratatouille, anyone?), the fat hamster was endearing for a bit and then became like Dan Fogler on the metaphorical chalkboard. Sorely underused are two acting cats who torment Bolt on the set of their TV show with their evil laughs. Sorely, sorely underused.
All cat bashing aside, Bolt is pretty cute. Mittens (voiced by Susie Essman who taunts Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm), smart alecky cat from the streets that deep down wants a home of her own, helps Bolt find his way to Hollywood, and their friendship is fun. Pretty much everything from pop culture, New York culture, Hollywood culture, and animal culture is skewered to adults surprise. Granted it's not as adorable as WALL-E and it's not as funny or clever as The Incredibles, but Bolt is worth a watch this weekend when you're trying to escape Twighlight mania.
Review by: Darcie Duttweiler
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