Writer/director Jack Martin brings audiences a thrilling and entertaining throwback to the science-fiction movies of the 1980s, such as Explorers and Back to the Future. Though this film is an indie feature, it could easily sport the iconic Amblin Entertainment title card. That is how good this movie is. It has a pleasant, winning spirit that delivers all of the feel-good vibes and does so in some inspiring ways. Bolt from the Blue is a movie that not only deserves much love and attention from movie fans, but it also deserves to catch the attention of Amblin producer Steven Spielberg.
Page Tudyk Gomez stars as Mia Ibarra, an ambitious and brilliant engineer whose firm often ignores her intelligence and ideas. Ibarra and her company have been attempting to develop further, more viable energy options that are less reliant on fossil fuels. Mia gets her first major assignment after expressing her frustrations to her boss, Michael (Matt Walsh). She gets tasked with traveling to Alaska to investigate the work of “mad scientist” Lucas Fletcher (Kevin Michael Martin).
After tragically losing his parents when one of their experiments goes completely wrong, Lucas remains determined to finish their work, seeking ways to capture lightning in a bottle and harness it as a renewable energy source. Initially, Mia believes that Lucas is mentally unstable with no formal scientific background; however, his determined spirit and brilliant ideas persuade her to think otherwise.
As someone who grew up with Amblin Entertainment’s science fiction movies, I adored Bolt from the Blue. Filmmaker Jack Marting has beautifully captured the wild-eyed spirit of these movies, along with developing a great story with colorful characters of his own. Kevin Michael Martin and Page Tudyk Gomez perform well together, with Martin portraying Lucas Fletcher like a young Dr. Emmett Brown and Gomez providing the voice of scientific reasoning.
I do not recall any overly strong language or overtly sexual content in the movie, so Bolt from the Blue would make for a great night of family entertainment. I sincerely hope that this movie scores distribution of some kind, as it would be a damn shame if more people don’t get to enjoy it. And judging from the audience’s response at the AFF screening, this movie is guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser.