As a rule, I go into press screenings not knowing a whole bunch about the film, but as I was taking a friend along to this one I decided to look a little bit more into the film than I would normally do.

Being a film maker myself, I’ve always got my ear to the ground for news coming out of the industry. Be it the big breaking news stories from the world of Hollywood, or the news coming out of my own New Zealand industry, I’ve always got a keen interest in what’s happening.

When it comes to CG animated films I tend to be a little wary these days of what the quality of them will be.  I’m not talking about the look of them, as often they all look stunning, but it’s the strength of the story and the writing that’s the defining factor now.

Since the success of the ‘Twilight’ films there was bound to be a swag of imitators coming through trying to either dethrone that series from the peak of romantic/fantasy teen movies or riding its coat tails for a quick buck.

Like most of my press screening films, I went into this one knowing nothing other than its title. In fact, my first impression of the name made me think it was going to be a rock bio picture or at the very least about music in some way.

When it comes to animated films there are so many on the market that they can no longer be seen as unique and now need to rely on a good story, which is what all good films need, and that’s what many of them have recently been lacking.

I’m a big alien invasion movie buff, or any movie involving aliens for that matter, especially when the world’s forces go up against alien forces. There’s nothing better than watching an epic air battle between aircraft!

There have been a large string of CG animated films over the years and there’s the feeling that they are no longer seen as ‘special’ or ‘unique’.

When seeing a kid’s film you always run the risk of it being a ‘real’ kid’s film and not really having much to keep an adult audience happy.  Unless you’re seeing a Pixar or Dreamworks animation film that is!

European cinema can be a mixed bag.