3D has gone through a couple of opinion cycles since it became popular. The "in your face" 3D which might have characters playing paddle ball in your face, like Journey to the Center of the Earth, is considered tacky and obnoxious by industryites. The more subtle experiential 3D, which creates a fuller experience like that in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, seems to be preferred by cinephiles, but kids tell me they want something more.  In other words, if kids are going to wear the glasses for two hours, they want to be wowed.

 

Parents need 3D to be more of an enhancement than an aggravation. Higher ticket prices, kids who turn into wiggle worms after abandoning awkward glasses and 3D that makes scary moments more intense are the kinds of 3D that parents can do without.  The 3D needs to be what we deem as worth it.

 

What kind of movies have not been worth it?  Well, for most children, Avatar. Great 3D, but the movie is too long.  Seeing The Lion King was nostalgic fun but the 3D just made the film so dark, my family wished we could have just seen the original on the big screen. I initially thought Kung Fu Panda 2 did right by 3D but several kids told me they loved the movie but they’d rather have seen it without the 3D.

 

Puss in Boots, on the other hand, manages to give kids what they want. The audience can almost snuggle into Puss' fur and feel the stiff bristles of Puss' whiskers. Puss in Boots introduces a texture to 3D in a new way that makes 3D truly three-dimensional. Also, kids do like things shooting out at them like the swords, pigs, vines, gold coins and birds in Puss in Boots, good. In other words, Puss in Boots may be an outlaw, but as visual entertainment for children, he’s one good kitty.

 

To see what kids think about Puss in Boots, go to www.KidsPickFlicks.com