BEOWULF
BEOWULF |
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In the darkest age, a Danish kingdom is held hostage to monstrous demons. The six foot Viking warrior Beowulf intends to change all that. | score 3 |
moviereview rates films from 1 (unwatchable) to 5 (unmissable) |
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| Cast Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright Penn, Angelina Joli, John Malkovich Director Robert Zemeckis Screenwriter Neil Gaiman, Roger Avary Country USA Rating / Running Time M / 113 minutes Australian Release November 2007 Official Site (c) moviereview
2006-2007
ABN 72 775 390 361 |
“I
AM BEOWULF!” bellows Beowulf as often as he can. The spunky,
vainglorious Viking has arrived in Denmark amid (his own) stories of
great glory. He’s a demon-slayer by trade and Hrothgar’s
kingdom is under siege from monstrous Grendel’s monstrous mother:
their scalps will make a worthy addition to Beowulf’s collection. Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump) returns to the performance capture technique used with great effect in The Polar Express. Actors are dropped into a computer, digitsed and re-emerge as animated versions of themselves or, in Ray Winstone’s case, something altogether more attractive. It’s a process that adds an intriguing dimension to animated cinema and lends itself effortlessly to the 3D experience (Beowulf is released in 2D, 3D and 3D Imax). Zemeckis has engaged the 3D environment in tantalising ways – offering more than the usual sticks and stones thrown at an audience to wake them up. This is a startling experience, to watch. Set pieces in which Beowulf, curiously naked, fights Grendel, and later, clothed, a fearsome dragon, are thrillingly staged. Yet for all its bravado, Beowulf has an Achilles in the thin script from Roger Avary (Pulp Fiction). Adapting an 8th century English poem, he and Neil Gaiman (Stardust) labour their characters with ridiculous and unintentionally hilarious dialogue. There’s little scenery left once Hopkins, Winstone and John Malkovich chew it up. Compound that with the unfortunate Botox-like side-effect of performance capture and Beowulf’s distracting modesty props, it’s hard to take Zemeckis’ claim that Beowulf is “a layered exploration of the nature of valour and glory” seriously. It’s fun, mostly, but that’s about all it is. // COLIN FRASER |