Bolt (in 3D)

Since I watched this film in 3D I'm going to first review the film itself, then as a 3D film and then 3D cinema.

Part 1: Bolt

It might seem like the story of Buzz Lightyear all over again, but Bolt is so much more than a re-imagining of it. It puts a certain amount of freshness in an old story and gives it new life.

Bolt is a story about a dog called Bolt that stars in a TV series called Bolt (which to save confusion I'll call Bolt TV). In Bolt TV, Bolt plays a super dog. However, Bolt thinks that he really is a super dog and doesn't realise that he is simply on a TV show.

The film opens with Bolt TV and unfortunately I think the trailer shows too much of this, because the whole sequence is pretty much in the trailer. Nevertheless I still found Bolt TV very exciting and funny to watch. In fact I think that they should actually make Bolt TV into a film of its own because it really was that good.

Continuing into the rest of the film, Bolt accidentally escapes the TV studio and ends up in the real world where he meets a cat and a hamster, and they embark on an adventure to save/get Bolt back to Penny, Bolts person (who is Bolts owner in Bolt TV).

They come across many challenges on the way, including dangerous stunts, but also emotional challenges. This film has the ability to make you laugh and cry, and along with some great characters, a great story, and some brilliant directing it really is an enjoyable film for all the family.

Part 2: Bolt In 3D

This happens to be the first 3D film that I've seen, and I must admit it was very impressive. However, I found it a very different experience to watching a normal film.

I think in terms of Bolt in 3D it just kind of works as a gimmick, because it was made as a normal film, so doesn't use any of the advantages of a 3D film. Therefore if you get the chance to go and see Bolt, I would recommend the normal version.

Part 3: 3D Cinema

In terms of 3D cinema I think that it seems to be in beta (i.e. in a test phase) because there are definite advantages of a 3D film, however they don't work for every film. Framing seems to be an issue that I found because when you saw an object at the front of the 3D image move from off screen right to on screen and then off screen left (for example) it kind of lost the illusion of the 3D world. Therefore I don't think the 'rules' of framing for shooting a normal film really apply to a 3D film, and that it needs its own set of 'rules'.

Although I think that developments in the 3D experience need to be improved, such as having a panoramic screen, before the filming of 3D movies changes, because when the film is released on DVD it is just a normal film and not in 3D, so the normal 'rules' of framing would then apply again.

There could definitely be a good future for 3D movies, however, at the moment I think that we are a long way off and that now they are simply more of a gimmick. But James Cameron's Avatar could change all that.