I went in doubtful and left completely stunned by the spectacle!

Rating: 9/10 (7 March 2010)

I went into this movie expecting a terrible story and awful CG and design based on what I'd seen in the trailer. While the story was your basic 'Good vs. Evil' theme and the plot was painfully predictable at times, I was captivated throughout the entire movie by the mere spectacle of 3D effects. I normally cringe when I notice 3D effects in films and up until now had been a strong opponent of most Motion Capture applications (i.e. Polar Express, Beowulf, & Christmas Carol), but James Cameron has taken performance capture to the next level--so much so that I was forced to accept these pony-tailed Cat-Smurfs as legitimate characters that I could relate to and wanted to care about. My only regret walking out of the theater was that the rest of this year's slate of films would not have had the opportunity yet to employ this new technology and as a result would be left wanting.