Movie Review: Bolt, in 3D

Tonight I took my wife, son and future daughter-in-law out to see Bolt, Disney’s newest animated feature. For extra bonus points, we went to go see it in 3D (yep, with the Real D glasses and everything).

I am somewhat skeptical about the long term viability of 3D. People seem to be highly variable in their reaction to the 3D experience: some people seem to find it hard to perceive any 3D at all, others seem to get headaches with even the most mild experience. I’ve rated my own reaction to be somewhat in between: I’m not immune to the eye strain, but I usually can tolerate it for a reasonable amount of time.

So, here’s the good news: Bolt looks great! And it’s a pretty nice family story too! Bolt is a cute young dog who is adopted by Penny. What Bolt doesn’t know is that he’s a TV star: he thinks he’s a super hero protecting Penny from the evil Doctor Calico. When Penny is kidnapped in the cliffhanger episode for the season, Bolt inadvertently escapes, and embarks on a quest to save Penny from the Doctor’s evil clutches.

The story is cute, the characters are cute, the jokes are funny, the look is amazing, there are some great action sequences (especially the first one): all in all, I think it’s a pretty fun movie, and my family agreed. The audience in the theater I was in liked it a lot too: I heard laughter at frequent intervals, and spontaneous applause at the end of the film. See it in 2D if you must (or can’t stomach 3D), but see it! It’s just darned fun.

Obligatory disclaimer: I do work for Pixar Animation Studios, a division of Disney. I suppose if the film does well, it could have some positive affect on my salary, but I have a feeling you’d have more of an effect if you bought me coffee.

Addendum: Here’s a clip from Youtube.

2 thoughts on “Movie Review: Bolt, in 3D

  1. Kevin Seghetti

    The problem with 3D is, the viewer doesn’t get to choose where they look. The focal point has to be selected during rendering or shooting of the film. So whenever the viewer tries to look at anything other than what the director thought you were going to look at, the illusion is broken when the focal point doesn’t change.
    So I don’t think 3D in film will ever mainstream. However, I think it could be done with the correct technologies. Using eye tracking to determine where each eye is looking, combined with real time rendering of the scene, it should be possible to render a scene which is correct for each eye regardless of where the viewer is looking.

  2. hammy

    Whoa, Kevin…

    That’s a really futuristic thought right there. And something I hadn’t thought about at all. 3D seems to be getting mainstream, to the extent that lots of movies are getting released and re-released in the format. And theaters are investing big time to incorporate the kind of equipement required. Hopefully, they’re thinking of most, if not all, the problems you’ve outlined…

    Let’s wait and see. 😀

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