Beowulf (2007)

This Movie Is About about a great warrior named Beowulf based on an epic poem (Ray Winestone) who comes to this strange land in Denmark to slay a monster named Grendel. He arrives and all of the land is very happy, especially King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins) who tells him that he will give him half his kingdom's treasure as well as his wife along with this dragon horn thing that he got a while ago when he slayed a dragon. Okay, so Beowulf lays a trap for Grendel and then he kicks his ass, movie over right? Noooo. See I thought this was going to be about Beowulf and Grendel but it really isn't. It's about the dark monster that lives inside all of us. That darkness that tempts us in our dreams. That is what the movie is really about and really there is no other person better to play a metaphorical dark temptation than Angelina Jolie.

You Should Watch This Movie Because: if it's in 3D it's very unique and visually quite stunning. I haven't watched it in non-3D but I'm sure that it will not be the same experience. But just speaking of the 3D version, I was quite surprised that this film was done with all motion capture and CGI. I guess a lot of people knew that it wasn't live action but I didn't so I was surprised at this choice while realizing that it had to be done this way. Anyway, this is a great film visually, as the style and flare really shows through the animations. This will probably be the most epic animated film you will see until Lucifer comes out.

What's Hot: Like I mentioned above, the 3D is amazing. It will shock you in ways that only IMAX can. It doesn't really matter what the movie is, I think. Any movie in 3D is worth watching but having one which tells a story, or at least, tries to really sets it apart from those movies about the deep sea or deep space or deep something else. If you have some money to spend and don't mind watching a movie with really no substance than the visuals, then you can go and give it a look. It's a feat in cinematic technology and shouldn't be missed unless you're a hardcore nut about story and the integrity of film or whatever.


What's Not Hot: Well, where do I begin. The story is all over the place. While it's easy for me to sit here on my computer and smash the living hell out of this movie for all the right reasons, I must say first that this must have been a very hard project to do. You knew that the studio wanted big action, big set pieces of Beowulf doing some owning while at the same time the writers must have been thinking about how to bring that deep message from the poem onto the big screen. They did a good job and I don't know how I would have done it any better. But this story is very unsatisfying in the end. I won't ruin anything for you but let's just say that what the theme and the motives and the antagonist doesn't come through on the screen. It's there in the dialogue and the intention is very clear but when the credits come up, most people will be scratching their heads wondering what happened with that or where did that person go. But then that will only last a couple seconds before some idiot in the group starts raving about the animation and the 3D saying it's the best movie ever and comparing it to Transformers.

Last Comments: It's hard as an audience to ignore watching this movie just because of the technological advancements it's made in cinema but at the same time it doesn't really feel like a real movie. The story is no where near as polished as well as the animation. Motion capture and CGI makes for some stunning visuals especially in 3D but in the end it doesn't work all the time and stylistically clashes with the tone and the message of the film. With all of it's short comings, Beowulf is a good example of a film where the visuals might actually warrant audiences watching a bad story. Not a bad story, but an incomplete one. Some people or most people will go because of the great fights and the 'wow' factor that most high budget films are trying to go for now but some, I'm afraid very few, will be left there very disappointed and may be forced to turn to the visuals for some positives. I know which group I will fall in and sadly, I know it will not be the majority.

Breaking It Down:
Story: 6.0 (Neil Gaiman & Robert Avary)
Direction: 7.5 (Robert Zemeckis)
Voice Acting: 8.0
Animation: 8.5
Music/Sound: 7.5

Entertainment Value: 7.5