great animation, fun story, lots of laughs, 3D added a little

Rating: 9/10 (29 March 2009)

The best part was the story was funny and entertaining. I laughed quite a lot, some out of the script, and some out of the absurdity of the characters. What blew me away was the increased animation quality. I saw it in the fire, water, hair and clothing. It just keeps getting better each new production.
One of the reasons I wanted to see this movie was it is the first of a blast of 3D movies coming out this year. Hollywood seems to think this is the next best thing to draw audiences and I wanted to see for myself.
Certainly the technology has improved and the quality of the 3D was the best I've seen. There were a few moments where the 3D effects were pushed to the limit for effect, and many others where it simply fit well into the movie. Overall though I thought it added little to the movie, perhaps a 5% improvement. On the other hand we had to wear the glasses through the whole movie. In the end, even with my interest in the technology, I didn't think it added enough to the movie to be worth the effort and, I would guess, added expense. Let me say it this way, 3D won't be enough to attract me to a movie soon, and I certainly wouldn't pay extra to see it. I'll keep an open mind though and will check on future movies to see if I think there is value in this wave.