Beowulf

Effort is good and it definitely counts, but the fact that it is a 3D animated film where the characters look quite realistic is not a factor that would really throw me off. I remember not liking it even in the cinema, and after watching it a second time, I can only confirm this. There are great action scenes, but they don't redeem it overall. (12/03/2015)

In terms of the script, Beowulf is surprisingly a very atypical and bold piece of work that is strangely unfocused (100% Gaiman's work) and enriches the heroic epic with the theme of bravado in the face of the awareness of one's own vulnerability. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean it's a well-written screenplay. Avary and Gaiman were dealt a "go wild!" card by Zemeckis during rewrites, saying that if a minute of film was going to cost a mega, let it be seen. Yet they failed to get two thirds of the film out of one pub and instead demonstrate their screenwriting freedom through one-liners like "My mighty lust limb can transport you to paradise, to ectasy, and back". A certain deliberate woodenness and naivety inherent in the myths, then, is the sort of thing that perhaps a classic filmstrip wouldn't pull off as well as a full-CGI one, which we naturally tend to see as a kind of stylization, though Zemeckis doesn't attempt much of one. Then again, the problem (see my review of The Polar Express) is that digital technology will always age rapidly, and today Beowulf already looks worse than interactive titles like Red Dead Redemption 2 or Witcher 3. (17/06/2021)

The action sections are reminiscent of a slightly above-average computer game intro (although even here the creators could learn a lot, for example from the intro of The Witcher), the characters are inhumanely bulbous, the horses roll like fates, and the moments when emotions are supposed to radiate from the animation completely miss the mark. Which is actually a shame, because otherwise Beowulf is quite a nice and surprisingly not entirely clichéd heroic epic – if it is judged by the standards of Hollywood. It has decent music and a good atmosphere in places, but the animation absolutely fails with regard to reviving the world "offscreen". Beowulf is a horribly narrow film that lives only in a small section of the camera; otherwise, it resembles an indifferent thing that fatally lacks persuasiveness. (10/06/2009)

An excellent retelling of the poem of Beowulf. Zemeckis is a great director who is engaging and can keep the pace of the story going, but the new technologies have proven to be more negative than positive. It is hard to enjoy a battle scene while under attack by flagrant digital artificiality. Unfortunately, it is also clear that the movie was made for IMAX, and the long fly-bys and spears in the face are more intrusive than interesting. But maybe if we wait a few years for special effects teams to create new textures, “enliven" their eyes, and fix all the mistakes, we'll be pleasantly surprised. P.S. Silvestri's music is excellent. (28/02/2008)

Just like the hero Beowulf, despite his bravery, is ultimately a toy in the hands of unpredictable fate, the transfer of his story to the big screen is a toy for Robert Zemeckis and his team. A toy that is enticing for the audience, and almost irresistible for some, yet is unattainable for most. The creators played with it for so long that it became usable only for their own enjoyment. The race in the sea, the battle with the dragon, and the camera flyover from the king's hall to Grendel are scenes that will stay in my mind for months, but the story itself was shamefully lost in their midst. After all, Beowulf is an ancient legend that has inspired many famous works of fantasy. So why does it rely almost exclusively on speeches full of pathos or vulgar outbursts (meaning rough for the period) in the first half? I don't know if I would want to see the determined warrior in a live-action version, as such blunders would be even more pronounced. Additionally, despite the "filter" of animation, the actors are truly excellent, Ray Winstone has charisma to spare, and even Alison Lohman, despite having limited screen time, manages to brighten up the fading ending with her traditional gentle beauty. I still trust Zemeckis. I just can't shake the fear that he will never succeed in delivering a perfectly combined story with revolutionary animation. (22/12/2007)