Review of Beowulf (2007) by Buddy A — 09 Sep 2012

"Beowulf" is not a perfect movie by any means, but it's not too shabby, either. It's quite good, in my opinion. A lot of critics bashed this movie because of its tendency to stray away from its source material, but I just look at it like this: if someone one day actually made a film that stayed true to the Beowulf epic, the film would take three days to watch in its entirety. So, I can excuse that part. However, I will not make excuses for some of the more convulted parts of the screenplay. Some scenes are actually laughable (I'm talking the naked Beowulf scene) and clinging to desperation (I'm talking the naked Angelina Jolie sceneS), but not enough to ruin the overall experience. I liked how they caught the beauty of Grendel's mother with Angelina Jolie; she's beautiful enough to draw a man in, beautiful enough to ruin him. Temptation and its consequences has always been the underlying theme in Beowulf, and the film captures that perfectly. Another thing I will not excuse is that PG-13 rating because this is obviously a rated R affair. There is nudity, gore, and some curse words. I might also be overrating the film because it has Anthony Hopkins in it, he being my favorite actor, but I don't think so. He's not even the star in this thing. Neither is Ray Winstone (Beowulf). In my opinion, the best performance of the thing is Crispin Glover as Grendel. He makes that creature genuinely pathetic, creepy, and horrific; in other words, absolutely what it was supposed to be. Kudos to him. The big draw for this film, though, especially for me, was the 3D animation. Boy, is it something. The characters are rendered to make them look like the actors that are portraying them and it's quite stunning. I even think that Grendel favors Glover a bit (lol). The graphics are right up there with any XBox 360 game. They might even be better. The dragon sequence in particular is absolutely amazing. It was so majestic that words can barely describe it. I can honestly say that it is the best man vs. dragon scene I have ever seen in a movie. The father and son moment afterward is very touching and the conclusion is great. I would not say that this was the best 3D movie out there, but I would say that it is worth watching if only for the visuals and the dragon part. I'm gonna put aside my inhibitions here and say, "Go for it". See "Beowulf". "Heck yeah.".

Critics who agree:

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: "Zemeckis springs so many pow 3-D surprises you'll think Beowulf is your own private fun house. 3 1/2 stars.".

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: "Beowulf is a solemnly gorgeous, at times borderline stolid piece of Tolkien-with-a-joystick mythology. B+.".

Richard Corliss, TIME: "It's got power and depth, and two kings whose greatness is diluted by hubris, and a thrilling dragon fight, and the demon Grendel as a tortured outcast, and a naked monster who looks a lot like Angelina Jolie. 80 out of 100.".

Tom Ambrose, Empire: "It?s not a reinvention of the wheel, but in 3D this is an astonishing experience that borders on ?must-see?, and raises the bar for what James Cameron is planning with Avatar. And you?ll be glad to know that the creepy dead eyes thing has been fixed. 4 out of 5.".

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: "We are not looking at flesh-and-blood actors but special effects that look uncannily convincing, even though I am reasonably certain that Angelina Jolie does not have spike-heeled feet. That's right: feet, not shoes. 3 stars.".

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: "Highly entertaining - but far from classic. 3 stars.".

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: "Zemeckis has converted the epic poem about the warrior who slays the monster Grendel into a species of computer game. He employs the same motion-capture technology that he first used in "The Polar Express," to slightly better effect. B.".

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: "Not all of it works - and not all of it works the way the target audience of jacked-up young males might want it to - but the movie is hugely provocative fun, and I'm pretty sure that's on purpose. 3 stars.".

Claudia Puig, USA Today: "Beowulf couldn't be less faithful to the original epic poem, and that's actually a good thing for moviegoers. It's a lot more fun than the mythic adventure most of us read in school. 3 stars.".

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: "Regardless of the medium, this is an effectively brutal story of swords, sorcery, demons, and heroes, with an Oedipal hint or two thrown in for flavor. 3 stars.".

Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle: "Although this version of Beowulf (the script, ricocheting between thrilling, heroic, and hilarious, is by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary) does take some liberties with certain heretofore undreamed of aspects of parentage, it's as faithful to the extant version as it needs to be. 3 stars.".

Chicago Reader: "The bolder stroke comes from screenwriters Roger Avary (Pulp Fiction) and Neil Gaiman (the graphic novel Sandman), who?ve turned the arthritic legend into sort of an Arthur Miller play in chain mail. 70 out of 100.".

Dana Stevens, Slate: "Could call Zemeckis subtle; but his style Well suits the poem's crude and earthy brawn. Comic-Con geeks and cinephiles alike Will gape at the resplendent imagery (But don ye specs, and see it in 3-D). 70 out of 100.".

Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: "The story works, but I wish they'd teach these avatars to act. 70 out of 100.".

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: "Beowulf deserves to be taken semiseriously; its eye candy is mixed with narrative fiber and dramatic protein. But it begs to be taken frivolously. Effects have grown so exciting in the realm of the third dimension that you just sit there all agog behind your polarizing glasses. 70 out of 100.".

Luke Y. Thompson, LA Weekly: "Beowulf may ultimately be viewed as a failure, but it?s a fascinating one. 70 out of 100.".

Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter: "Director Robert Zemeckis not only deploys 21st century movie technology at its finest to turn the heroic poem into a vibrant, nerve-tingling piece of pop culture, but his film actually makes sense of Beowulf. In Zemeckis' hands, it's an intriguing look at a hero as a flawed human being. 70 out of 100.".