I'd give the story 3 stars - good, not great. Our local reviewer trashed the story as a typical computer game story, but I think he missed the slight anime touches to the writing. Sure, the facial expressions weren't always perfect (the villain was NOT well done at all) but often times they were quite close. Dr. Aki Ross, the main character, was IMNSHO only the second best animated character in the movie. Grey looked more realistic. There was some personality for the supporting characters in the movie - not as much as Aliens (which is still my standard for giving minor characters individuality) - but better than a lot of other action movies. They did cheeseball the ending a bit - I can't say in what way because I don't want to spoil the ending - but not as badly as they could have. I can kinda see why they did it, but it took the movie down a notch (and Dr. Aki in particular.)