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Beowulf (2007)

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Time Out rating

Average user rating

65 reviews

Synopsis

In a legendary time of heroes, the mighty warrior Beowulf battles the demon Grendel and incurs the wrath of the beast's ruthlessly seductive mother. Their epic clash forges the timeless legend of Beowulf.

Movie review

From Time Out London

‘Bollocks! Give me a gobble, then!’ This sample dialogue is typical of the many miscalculations made in Robert Zemeckis’ tediously protracted, mis-judged and puerile animated adaptation of ‘Beowulf’. It’s evident from the script – by British-born graphic novelist Neil Gaiman and Tarantino’s one-time collaborator Roger Avary – that it wasn’t the power and beauty of the language of our great eponymous, anonymous eighth-century Old English epic encomium that attracted the filmmakers. Nor, indeed, was it the work’s insight into pre-Anglo-Saxon history, as Anthony Hopkins’ Welsh-accented kinsmen and the snowbound mountain castles of table-flat Denmark bear eloquent witness. But even as a mere convenient launchpad for some vertiginous, 3D-assisted, man-on-beast heroics located in the eternally-adolescent gothic/fantasy/horror comic-book tradition, it seems an irrelevance.

Part of the problem is the animation technology itself. In re-animating the actors’ performances, ‘enhanced motion capture’ (the technique Zemeckis adopted with ‘The Polar Express’) makes of them creepier spectres than the creatures by which they are often surrounded. Thus, however gloopy and cadaverous the 20ft Grendel (voiced by ‘crazy’ Crispin Glover) appears or how unexpected we find the swoops of the fire-breathing dragon (non-Equity) and how bizarre the serpents-tailed Goldfinger babe presented by his protean mother (Angelina Jolie), none of them can compete with the sheer, unsettling oddity of the humans, with their milky-blind eyes. This applies especially to our hero, Beowulf, beneath whose glistening, highly sexualised , often naked rejuvenated body and bulging, leather-bound musculature lies the just-detectable face and movements of dear old Ray Winstone. The final, kinetic aerial battle scenes are eye-poppingly spectacular – especially in the 3D IMAX-version under review – but they come way too late to save the film.

Author: Wally Hammond

Time Out London Issue 1943: November 14-20 2007

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User reviews of this film

Hayley said...

Posted on May 16 2008 19:12 i think it was a good idea making an animated version for the little kids who can't see the real film because it's 15+

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Technoguy said...

Posted on May 09 2008 02:04 Zemeckis’ “Beowulf”loses the poetry of the great poem in it’s translation to
the 3-D digital motion-capture technology to the screen.The look of the past can
be replicated in the images,but not the essence of the vision,the ancient stones,the sacral light,the fantastical elements wrapped up in the mythopeic universe.These
myths are an essential part of a tragic tale whose theme is:man at war with a hostile world and his inevitable defeat by Time.The poem was recalling a pagan past but from the perspective of a Christian worldview but the poet still celebrates its vanished power,in which fate rules all and man’s courage alone confers nobility.In the new world death and defeat are ultimately defeated by Christ:”The time of heroes is dead,
the Christ God has killed it,leaving humankind with nothing but weeping martyrs,
fear and shame”.The thousand year old poem was itself looking back at a lost world.
The poem captures this unbearably moving disenchantment.Splinters of that primordial light are embodied in the myths of the poem.
There is an excellent cast of actors.Ray Winstone a gutsy if cockneyfied Beowulf,
Anthony Hopkins seems almost fully realized as Hrothgar,Angelina Jolie as the
seductive monster’s mother,who slept with the old king and also seducing Beowulf,
Malkovitch is perfectly cast as Unferth(dead eyes to match),Crispin Glover as the pitiable Grendel,who brings terror to the mead hall and lastly Brendan Gleason as Wealthow,Beowulf’s second in command.Beowulf is vain,proud and boastful.He comes to Denmark from Geatland(Sweden) to kill the voracious monster ravaging
the Viking land.There is much gore and violence,digitized cleavage and a naked Beowulf.Zemeckis’ Beowulf departs from the original story in order to tie up lose threads and generate narrative continuity and tension.Beowulf has to change,be something other than just a brave and virtuous hero.The movie’s solution is to have Grendel’s mother corrupt him by playing a sexually powerful witch-woman.Beowulf
pays the penalty when he atones for his sins 50 years later.He is the monster of his pride:” We men are the monsters now”.He atones for his sins by fighting the evil dragon in a climactic battle that results in his death.
“Beowulf” fails because it it does not create a mythical universe.It has no transfiguring vision. It seizes upon an ancient tale,whose invisible roots run deep in
our psyches, and uses it to construct an entertainment of computer game
proportions.It pulls a tame story out of a wild fable,it decouples the cosmology of
a myth producing high-tech kitsch,without the depth of those dim and distant realms.
The funeral of Beowulf should be like the echo of an ancient dirge,a memory brought over the hills,far-off and hopeless,an echo of an echo.Even with IMAX 3-D.

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Silvia said...

Posted on Mar 30 2008 22:30 Has to be said that this was entertaining crap. Watched the whole thing thinking "hang on, that wasn't in the book!". I'm going to dig the book out of the loft and re-read it just so the saga remains as it should be in my mind. As animations go it was a good piece but the eyes are the windows to the soul, And the characters eyes were souless rendering the characters with a lifeless aire. Still impressive though, especially the last scenes with the dragon. Has to be Sean Bean's body or maybe Ray Winston as he see himself. Magic mirror anyone?

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Ms Ms said...

Posted on Feb 20 2008 18:54 I hated this film!!! I was so looking forward to an incredible epic film based on an epic poem from proud English history, and yeah, the graphics were cool and new, some fight scenes were engaging BUT OH MY GOD could the script be any more cringe-worthy?? I hated the way they changed the story - Beowulf was meant to be an honourable hero. With all the money put into this and the amazing cast, I think they missed a fantastic opportunity to blow us away. Yeah yeah, amazing 3D and all that, but the plot, characters, script was as 2D as the early Simpsons episodes. No, that's too much of a compliment.

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rose said...

Posted on Jan 30 2008 16:52 this film was great i would reccomend it to every1!!! x

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suzie said...

Posted on Jan 16 2008 01:39 Just awfeul. How could such famous actors take part in such a fiasco? The whole thing was a mish-mash of themes borrowed from other stories.. The language, story and acting were atrocious, with a couple of minor exceptions, viz. Jolie and one other whose name escaped me. But we can only thank the directors for the dreadful acting, as the stars have proved their abilities in many other ways. Cannot recommend it. Has set Beowulf-studies back by decades.

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Darkflux said...

Posted on Jan 11 2008 01:39 The CGI for me was a load of rubbish and so too was most of the film. Only the end fight against the dragon was worth watching.

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ypul said...

Posted on Dec 31 2007 18:17 3D!!!! This is an excellent movie with 3D experience. watch in 3D version only!.....Its amazing!

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Jimbo said...

Posted on Dec 21 2007 01:09 The review seems way off beam. This was a stunningly good film esp. in 3D. 12A as others have said is pushing it - you can't compare this to the last Harry Potter (also 12A). Should have been 15 minimum. I blame the BBFC for non-conformity of standards.

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Mr D said...

Posted on Dec 13 2007 01:38 Absolutely amazing! More than the anything, even the graphics, the plot is unbelievable! There's an unexpected twist you would never think of! The soundtrack is also great! More so Beowulf reminds me of my dad, he's that kool!!!

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KIZZY said...

Posted on Dec 11 2007 16:10 AAAAMMMMAAAAZZZZZIIIIINNNNNGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Alistair said...

Posted on Dec 08 2007 12:26 The film was amazing. GO AND SEE IT NOW!!!!!!! If you like historical classics this will be your favourite film of all time

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Teresa said...

Posted on Dec 07 2007 13:48 It was nothing like the hype - very disappointing. Could not wait for the picture to end. Anyone thinking of going over 15 - save your money and don't bother.

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ANN said...

Posted on Dec 07 2007 13:26 When i'd settled into the film i enjoyed it.
The rating was way off this film should have at least been 15

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Shahid said...

Posted on Dec 07 2007 12:01 Watch this movie at the IMAX (I think theres only one in London)....Its a much better movie...awesome effects in 3D and you have to jump back...

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