In the age of heroes comes the mightiest warrior of them all, Beowulf. After destroying the overpowering demon Grendel, he incurs the undying wrath of the beast's ruthlessly seductive mother who will use any means possible to ensure revenge. The ensuing epic battle throughout the ages, immortalizing the name Beowulf. Academy Award® winner director Robert Zemeckis tells the oldest epic tale in the English language with the most modern technology, advancing the cinematic forum through the magic of digitally enhanced live action. A stellar cast is led by Ray Winstone ("The Departed," "Sexy Beast") in the title role. Joining him are Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins as the cursed King Hrothgar, John Malkovich, Robin Wright Penn, Brendan Gleeson, Crispin Glover, Alison Lohman and Oscar Winner Angelina Jolie as Grendel's mother.
Spectacular animated action scenes turn the ancient epic poem Beowulf into a modern fantasy movie, while motion-capture technology transforms plump actor Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast) into a burly Nordic warrior. When a Danish kingdom is threatened by the monster Grendel (voiced and physicalized by Crispin Glover, River's Edge), Beowulf--lured by the promise of heroic glory--comes to rescue them. He succeeds, but falls prey to the seductive power of Grendel's mother, played by Angelina Jolie... and as Jolie's pneumatically animated form rises from an underground lagoon with demon-claw high heels, it becomes clear that we're leaving the original epic far, far behind. Regrettably, the motion-capture process has made only modest improvements since The Polar Express; while the characters' eyes no longer look so flat and zombie-like, their faces remain inexpressive and movements are still wooden. As a result, the most effective sequences feature wildly animated battles and the most vivid character is Grendel, whose grotesqueness ends up making him far more sympathetic than any of the mannequin-like human beings. The meant-to-be-titillating images of a naked Jolie resemble an inflatable doll more than a living, breathing woman (or succubus, as the case may be). But the fights--particularly Grendel's initial assault on the celebration hut--pop with lushly animated gore and violence. Also featuring the CGI-muffled talents of Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs), Robin Wright Penn (The Princess Bride), and John Malkovich (Dangerous Liaisons). --Bret Fetzer
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Disappointing:
Beowulf is a classic tale that deserves better than this. I hated the video-game style imagery. The poem is beautiful to hear, and to adapt it visually it deserves a beautiful visual style, more lushly beautiful, more fantastic, more starkly ugly, grittier and more brutally realistic, whatever. I found the style bland. The sound design could have gotten it a second star, if I could use it as an audio-play, that would be ok too, but no luck there, the sound design is similarly bland and artless. Now that... more info
Beowulf [Blu-ray]:
Definitely enjoyed the Blu-ray version visuals were sweet but sound was awesome!!!never want to watch a reg. dvd again they do no justice to movies. Though the animated movie does not follow the book,while I did read it 10+ years ago and it was not fresh on my mind,this does not detract from the movie on its own,if your into the sword&sorcery fantasy genre buy this movie you will enjoy it as much as I have. "I am Ripper... Tearer... Slasher... Gouger. I am the Teeth in the Darkness, the Talons... more info
Not much:
It's just not much of a movie. I will resell my copy after watching it once.
I just like it!:
This movies plot/story is missing some. But I just like the action, blood and CGI which was worth it to me. It really shows off the human nature of telling tell tales and making our shelve's look better to other but in the end just look like a fool!!!
