We didn’t actually BOLT to see “Bolt”. First we talked about it all week.  Then we advance purchased our tickets to avoid being disappointed at the ticket window.  Then the kids drove me nuts all day Saturday. “Ma what time is it?”  “Are we still going?”  “Did you print those tickets Ma?” “I hope Mom put those tickets in her purse. You KNOW how she is.” (Hey! I heard that!) Then we worked on organizing the basement together. (Big Papa’s gone hunting so we have all kinds of projects & activities planned!) We totally forgot to eat dinner.  Got wrapped up in our basement project and the excitement of all the goodies we were finding (wait! weren’t we supposed to be throwing stuff AWAY?) that hours passed by and we missed our 6:30 departure time for early arrival to the 7pm show.  THEN we bolted out the door, cut to the front of the ridiculous long lines with our ADVANCED CONFIRMATION (muahaha!) and settled in just in time to see the preview for the upcoming “Race to Witch Mountain” starring Dwayne (the Rock) Johnson and the “Bridge to Tarabithia” girl.  Whew! What a day!

Was it all worth it?  Did the evening peak with a healthy climax?  Would we do it all over again knowing what we know now?

As usual, the answer lies with my kids.

Today is just like yesterday.  Only instead of constant chatter involving ANTICIPATION to see “Bolt”, my kids cannot stop talking about the movie and how much they loved it. For the car ride from the theatre to Big Boy (remember, we forgot dinner?) I was grilled like the bread on my Slim Jim sandwich. “Mom! What was your favorite part?” “What was your favorite words?”  “What was the best sentence you heard?” “Did you think the best action part was when…” “Oh you guys, wasn’t it sad when…?” You get the picture.

I can confidently recommend that your kids will enjoy “Bolt”.  But will you?

I did.  Do you remember that Jim Carrey movie, “The Truman Show”?  Where he had been born and bred as part of an elaborate reality tv show where everyone he knew and loved was an actor on the show? I just loved that movie and was reminded of this early on in “Bolt”.  Same concept.

I was engaged in the action sequences.  Especially the beginning with the helicopters and the bad guys on motorcycles… just enough intensity infused with just enough comedy.  As tough as Bolt was he still made my heart melt when he learned how to take advantage of his “puppy dog eyes” and found the joy in letting his head and tongue hang out the window in the breeze.

The lesson we took away? As Bolt’s lightning bolt “birthmark” began to fade away, and Bolt began to realize he was just a regular dog with no real super powers, he lost confidence in himself and didn’t think he had anything to offer his friends or the situation.  With the help of his friends (cat and hamster… hilarious!) he realized he was still special and brave and loyal.

The animation was fantastic of course and I am a little embarrassed to admit that I didn’t realize beforehand that it was in RealD.  It is funny because we had our first encounter with RealD this summer at Universal Studios and went crazy over it wishing they’d use it for movies.  This is our second RealD flick since then (”Journey to the Center of the Earth” was first) and I am a fan.  Not going to talk too much about it here because I am working on a separate post about it.

I wasn’t planning on writing for Imperfect Parent today because I have that huge project in the basement beckoning me.  But since the kids are still buzzing about it and I can’t get away from it, I thought I’d ride the wave of excitement and put it to work for me.

Did anybody else see the “Bolt” sneaky peek?