Beowulf (2007)

 Originally Written

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Robert Zemeckis hasn't directed a whole lot of films over the past 30 years but his filmography proves that quality rises high above quantity. As of late Zemeckis has focused on breaking the boundaries of CGI animation, attempting to make computer generated graphics look like the real thing. While in my opinion CGI films are no where near as satisfying and entertaining as the real thing, there is definitely no denying that Zemeckis has taken this niche of film making to a whole new level.

       

Beowulf is a story that has seen its fair share of on screen recreations. Only being slightly familiar with the character, this was the first time I have actually watched a rendition of the story on film. The premise is quite simple, Beowulf (a famed warrior by his own words) has journeyed to a small village in the middle of nowhere to vanquish the evil monster Grendel who is terrorizing the people. The task turns out to be quite simple, but what Beowulf does not expect is what happens when he encounters Grendel's mother. Grendel's mother has the ability to appear in the form of a beautiful female and seduce men with an unlimited amount of wealth and power, but it all comes with a price.  Grendel was the product of a King's greed, what will become of the product of Beowulf's greed?

Story wise I was pretty disappointed with Beowulf, which is extremely thin and unsatisfactory and with the runtime of almost two hours causes the film to drag quite a bit a times.  I guess what was I to expect with a film that mainly focuses on visuals, and Beowulf definitely shines in terms of visual quality. I highly recommend checking this film out in high definition if you have the capability to do so, the visuals are stunning and some of the characters look beyond realistic.  The voice acting is average, the "I am Beowulf!" gets extremely old after the fourth time, but I can overlook the average voice acting more than I can the mediocre story.
           

Overall, don't expect anything great from this film. The visuals might be fantastic but it's clear they spent more time on the look of the film than the actual story itself, which is a main reason I have never truly been a fan of CGI films, more time and energy always seems to be put into the look of the film and the story suffers. Definitely give it a rent if you have access to checking it out in high definition, otherwise you're really not missing much if you pass this one by. 

6/10