This technology puts more fun into films

"3D is a waste of a perfectly good dimension. Hollywood's current crazy stampede toward it is suicidal". So says US film critic Roger Ebert, who is right about most things, but who - in this case - is surely overstating the point.

3D film-making has enhanced, slightly, most of the big movies of the year, making magical environments that bit more overwhelming. "This world is coming to get me!" shrieked my daughter while watching Alice in Wonderland. At no point did she attempt to take her 3D glasses off. All great movies pierce one's reality but this latest technological development takes us a millimetre closer to feeling we're part of the story.

While it may be annoying to fork out extra money for a novelty that, in real terms, cost the studios very little, audiences do have a choice. They can vote with their feet. Punters seem in two minds. American cinemagoers have flocked to Toy Story 3 in 3D, but not really because of the 3D -they just love the franchise. They're also flocking to Twilight Eclipse, which has no extra dimensions. The anticipation around sci-fi action thriller Inception is also proof that 3D is non-essential.

"Video killed the radio star..." The new wave begun by James Cameron with Avatar isn't going to kill anyone or anything. 3D is fun.