Pretty entertaining. But it was missing that WOW! factor.

Rating: 7/10 (9 July 2010)

How can any other movie company possibly compete with PIXAR and Dreamworks in the animation department? Well, you either get really lucky to get your film funded....or, you get a studio like Universal to shell you out a couple million. And that's exactly what they did with this movie. I like to see something fresh and new in the animation department......well, you always seem to get that with PIXAR, but not so much with Dreamworks. Hopefully this will add a new level of competition in the realm of animation.
Well, i was kind of hoping that this movie would offer something a little different, but instead, it came off just like a mediocre Dreamworks picture. In fact, i actually forgot that this was produced by Universal, and assumed it was a Dreamworks Animation project. Don't get me wrong, the movie kept my attention and was mildly entertaining.........but much like Dreamworks movies, this movie failed in the second act. You know how some animated movies tend to get a little dull and boring in the middle.....yeah, that somewhat happened with this.
Also, the humor was in little doses, and at times, it seemed like they were begging for your laughs. Yes there were some sequences that had you lightly chuckling to yourself, but after a while, the jokes fall a little flat. Yeah the story is a little on the cute side, which is alright with me......but it's emotional level isn't as high as say....PIXAR? Okay, I'm sorry for using so many comparisons to other animation companies. But it's kind of hard not to, when you basically have only 3. So your easily going to compare and contrast.
Bottom Line, yeah, it's pretty entertaining, and has you laughing just a little bit. But it wasn't as good as i was hoping it would be. The kids will love it, maybe even some parents. But it certainly doesn't have that WOW! factor we all expect when we see an animated feature.