Bolt2.5/4
(Walt Disney Pictures, Rated PG)
It may seem like it’s raining dogs, if not cats, at the ’plexes lately, if you count those Beverly Hills Chihuahuas and the cannibalistic canines of Waltz With Bashir. And Bolt is a frisky addition to that collection of man’s-best-friend movies, with a generous portion of one-joke-fits-all humor to captivate kid and adult audiences alike. Disney has recruited Pixar guru John Lasseter for its visually innovative digital 3-D dog outing, directed by Chris Williams and Byron Howard. In this calamity-filled canine road movie, John Travolta is the voice of Bolt, a super-confident Hollywood action-hero dog on a television series, who believes that his special-effects superpowers really exist. And nobody is about to set him straight—the better to enhance his performance—much to the dismay of his beloved crime-fighter co-star, Penny (Miley Cyrus). But the hermetically sheltered hound is about to get a rude reality check, when he inadvertently ends up abandoned in New York City. Frantic to find his way back home to Penny and facing all sorts of unanticipated pet peeves along the way, Bolt learns a couple of life lessons about humility and the importance of furry friendships when caught in assorted dire straits. Ranging from sweet to silly, Bolt does have stretches that sag, which would seem to mandate partaking of the 3-D option rather than the flat version, if at all possible. And while the pacing slows down by journey’s end, picking up the slack and elevating the mood just in time for the credits are Travolta and Cyrus affectionately harmonizing with “I Thought I Lost You.”
Special2.5/4
(Magnolia Pictures, Rated R)
Special is a fanciful but at times clumsy homage to the inner extraordinary being in every little guy, yearning to break free. Michael Rapaport (Zebrahead, Bamboozled) is Les, a dejected parking meter agent convinced that he’s been suddenly blessed with superpowers. Les is a childish, insecure loner determined to turn his life around by entering an experimental drug program that promises to erase all self-doubts with the pop of a pill. But the depressed loser experiences an unusual drug reaction, and imagines that he’s now a superhero who can walk through walls and instantly clobber wrongdoers. The problem is that he’s unknowingly smashing into walls, which results in a body covered with bruises, and police and angry villains alike in pursuit. The pharmaceutical company in question is eager to do away with him, too, before he can generate bad press and loss of drug profits. Special could have been more of that, if the movie had concentrated on the social implications of those dangerous drug peddling corporate suits, and, well, less on Les caught in the fray of all that head bashing. In any case, the deadly side-effects warnings muttered in the background of all those gleeful controlled-substance commercials flooding television sets across America will likely never sound quite the same again.
Quantum Of Solace2.5/4
(Sony Pictures, Rated PG-13)
Still having a bad day, but additionally dealing with vengeance denial issues, Daniel Craig’s glum but no less homicidally gifted 007 is braced for new and equally alarming death-defying ventures in Quantum of Solace. In this sequel, which begins right where 2006’s Casino Royale left off, Bond is still in Italy and hot in pursuit of the villains responsible for the blackmailing and suicide of his old flame, Vesper. The superhuman hit man tracks down a fake environmentalist honcho (Mathieu Amalric) with a hidden agenda in Bolivia, while deflecting overbearing surrogate-mom boss, M (Judi Dench). Meanwhile, providing erotic digressions as Bond struggles to corner elusive confederations of robber barons, are retribution mate Camille (Olga Kurylenko) and government functionary hottie Strawberry Fields (Gemma Arterton). Craig wears the 007 mantle with roughed-up finesse and rarely disappoints, while it’s the narrative that lags behind.