“Beowulf” stars Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Robert Wright Penn, Brendan Gleeson, Crispin Glover, Alison Lohman, and Angelina Jolie. The film takes place in a village that is being disrupted by a beast. This is an adventure/fantasy that will be marveled only by its new age of animation.
Storyline:
Set against the coming of Christianity, this is the story of the last hero: in 507, a monstrous troll wreaks havoc in the mead hall of Danish King Hrothgar (Sir Anthony Hopkins). He offers rewards for the death of Grendel (Crispin Glover), so Beowulf (Ray Winstone), a great and boastful Geat warrior, arrives with his thanes. Beowulf sets aside his armor and awaits the monster. A fierce battle ensues that leads to Beowolf’s entering the watery lair of Grendel’s Mother (Angelina Jolie), where a devil’s bargain awaits. Beowulf returns to Herot, the castle, and becomes King. Jump ahead many years, and the sins of the father are visited upon Beowulf and his kingdom. The hero must face his weakness and be heroic once again. Is the age of demons over? – Imdb.com
Review:
“Beowulf” starts off with the village having a loud party that agitates the town beast, who has sensitive ears and goes by the name Grendal (Crispin Glover). The king (Anthony Hopkins) is tired of the destruction that Grendal has caused the town and calls upon the hero Beowulf (Ray Winstone). Beowulf then agrees to slay the beast. After his encounter with Grendal ends with Grendal missing an arm, Beowulf is unaware that the beast has an angry mother (Angelina Jolie) that he must face after slaying Grendal.
“Beowulf” puts the stunning animation that was used for “The Polar Express” to bloody good use. The problem with Beowulf is the remarkably bad dialog that produces a few unintentional (?) laughs. It was hard to tell if Robert Zemeckis was trying to make the film satirical on purpose. The only way to see this film is in theaters because the animation wouldn’t look as good on DVD. Strikingly entertaining as far as visuals go.
Watch Beowulf (2007) Movie Clip:
Another major problem with “Beowulf” is the ending, which I call a momentum stealer. It may have a connection with the story, but with such a slow paced ending to such a briskly paced film makes for a disappointing conclusion. As far as animation goes, this is the best I have seen all year. This is a huge leap from the poorly written and badly executed “Polar Express“, but still has it’s flaws that linger.
“Beowulf” is a visually captivating movie experience. There are two things that I couldn’t help but linger on. One is the laughably bad dialog, and the other is the ending takes away from the film’s energy. I will have to say that this film has one thing worth recommending, it’s thrillingly beautiful animation, and therefore fails as a whole.
