Beowulf

The stunning visual qualities of Beowulf are one of the movies strong qualities, but other than some nostalgic battle sequences and a funny yet dry performance by John Malkovitch, the movie really has nothing going for it.

The movie uses a new form of CGI used in 2004’s The Polar Express. It simply shows the actors as computer animated characters without making them fully animated. Sure the actors act but in some ways it all seems fake. The glossy effect on the characters make the action scenes cool to watch, and the rest of the film almost laughable. The whole movie feels almost like a video game only with more corny dialogue and less interaction.

That said some of the best parts of the movie are when the characters are over the top. The first half of the movie was particularly good because Beowulf (Ray Winstone) had such a charismatic performance same going for his crew and the old King played by Anthony Hopkins. The second half lacks those stand out performances and is boring up until the last minutes.

Maybe Beowulf is too ahead of its time, but the movie would work better without the CGI effects. Making it more like this year s 300, with the live action but strange visual battle scenes, could have been a better choice. Beowulf is good enough for a recommendation but don't look for anything too special. Grade – B-
By CJ Simonson