Review: Beowulf
December 5, 2007
by Jonah Love
Most of you probably have read the old English tale of Beowolf for either an English class or your own sense of enjoyment. But for those of you who haven’t, there is good news: the movie has finally arrived for your viewing pleasure. Is it good? Does it entertain? Is it scary? Is it faithful to the story? Here we go; yes, yes, kinda, yes and no.
At the helm of this production is Robert Zemeckis, the director of Forest Gump and Back to the Future. With this film, he has further developed the Computer Generated Images (CGI) technobabble that brought us the Polar Express. The use of motion capture has improved on this second attempt, but still has some distance to go. The characters, locations and action sequences look amazing, but the realism and feel of it still has work to be done. It is, however, a visual spectacle unto itself.
The performance by Ray Winestone stands out from the rest of this all-star cast. While in real-life he is a 50-year-old man with a gut, that doesn’t stop him from looking and acting in a manner befitting someone in their 20s. He delivers his lines with ferocity and a calm demeanor at the same time. Also standing out is Crispin Glover as Grendel, while he looks unrecognizable, it’s interesting to watch him and the way he makes you almost sympathize with him rather than fear and loathe him.
Overall, I’d give this film 3 geese out of 4. It is a good movie, visually appealing, with fairly good performances, and Angelina Jolie – for those who are interested. While I liked the film, I found it oddly comedic at times. However, I feel this can be attributed to the persons seated next to me who would become noticeably frightened during certain moments. However, they made the movie experience worth the $11 ticket. If you are a fan of the book or the visual style, or just want a decent flick to go see, pick up this bad boy and enjoy yourself.
Now you go...
Got something to say?