Beowulf

“Beowulf,” an action-packed animated recreation of an epic poem, is most effective for those who do not know the original story. For those that do, a major disappointment is the visual representation of Grendel, the monster Beowulf fights. The imagined monster is much more terrifying than the one on the screen. The biggest disappointment, however, is the addition of Angelina Jolie as Grendel’s mother. What? You have to add sex to a 10th century poem?

Director Robert Zemeckis has thrown pretty much everything into “Beowulf.” There’s an arrogant hero, a beautiful queen, a faithful friend, an envious courtier; there’s 3-D with spears and arrows rushing at the audience; there’s motion capture, which allows the animators to make the animation more life-like. There’s so much technology in this film that it’s hard to identify with the protagonist – ultimately you don’t really care what happens to Beowulf.

I have to wonder why Zemeckis decided to make this movie. Did he have a burning desire to turn a work of fiction into a movie or was he hoping to create another “300”? (11/20/07)