The animation was really amazing. It captivated my 6 1/2 year old and 9 year old, as well as my husband and me. The battle scene was not overly ghorry. My kids never seemed frightened at all and we saw it in 3D. The characters had personality. The overall story was not 'dark' as I feared it to be by the critics reviews leading up to the release of this movie. It was the expected good vs. evil. Good show and a beautiful feast for the eyes.
I was a bit nervous to see this with my 6 and 8 1/2 year old. My older child reads these books and I'm not crazy about some of the rude language and humor (farting, using word 'moron' and so on). I do have to say though the use of crude humor was fairly minimal and there were a lot of genuinely funny scenes. In the end, Gregory realizes what is really important...true friendship and being yourself. He sees that these things are far more important than popularity status. I enjoyed seeing this with my kids.