Beowulf (2007)

A Hybrid of Animation and Live Action ...But Is It For You?

A $150 million budget. A realistic Healthow voiced by Robin Wright Penn. An even more realistic Hrothgar voiced by Anthony Hopkins (Bobby). John Malkovich (Burn After Reading) as Unferth. Ray Winstone (The Departed) as the dominating Beowulf. And the sexiest woman alive, Angelina Jolie (Wanted) as Grendel's deceptive mother. I mean, what a cast! This is what great films are made of. And the realism of the computer animation in terms of how they resembled the actual actors was astonishing ...which begged a pretty big question: WHY NOT SIMPLY FILM BEOWULF WITH LIVE ACTION AND NOT ANIMATION?!

Cost was probably an issue, but with the $150 million budget I think they could've done a fine live action film. In 2005 Icelandic director Sturla Gunnarson proved it could be done with his very nicely done Beowulf & Grendel starring Gerard Butler (300). With comparable run times (103 minutes to 114 minutes) and Beowulf & Grendel's much lower budget (I believe it was around $75 million), it can be done and done well if you have the inclination. But, for whatever reason, director Robert Zemeckis (Monster House) decided to shoot it this way.

It may sound as if I'm bashing animated films in general, which I'm not. There are some really great ones out there (Finding Nemo, Hoodwinked, etc.), so animation can be pulled off if care is taken to present it as such. But with Beowulf, it seems they were trying to mix live action with animation in order to produce some sort of hybrid ...which simply didn't work for me. It might for some and that's fine, but, if you're going to show realistic characters that look like the actual actors, why not simply do live action? It's so maddening!

It was nice, however, to see some care taken with the source material (namely Neil Gaiman's reimagining of the epic poem by the same name). Beowulf had some shady dealings and it was refreshing to see this brought out in the story and not simply showing him as some flawless hero.

Still, if you're into animation, this one might not work for you. Or if you're solely a live action fan, this one might REALLY bug you. So beware. You've been warned. January 1, 2009

Beowulf - A technological experience and good flick

I rate Beowulf at four stars overall. I purchased Beowulf for under $5.00 as a pre-screened DVD, and started out a complete innocent. I had never seen coming attractions, and was totally unaware of anything about this film. In fact, I purchased the movie ignorant of the ambitious computer graphics effort and totally judged this book by its fine realistic looking DVD cover.

I was not too surprised, however, to learn by watching this DVD that Beowulf was an all CGI affair. Then I suddenly noticed a main character that looked just like Anthony Hopkins (my favorite actor) as well as other characters that looked very familiar. Once the unmistakably beautiful Angelina Jolie appeared, I realized something was going on that might be important to the future of cinema.

This film was a fairly successful effort to produce a movie in which the animated screen appearance of many characters was based on the actual actor. I at first thought that it represented the first efforts to produce a computer animated film without the use of actors, but only their images and voices.

After watching the informative documentary on the making of the film I learned that the actual actors were vital and motion capture techniques (e.g., latest remake of King Kong) were used to produce these very realistic images. Although this falls far short of a time which will permit films to made by CGI which do not require actors to perform for any single role, Beowulf did not require set designers to actually build full scale sets or be limited to what could be actually be constructed.

Actors who wish to participate in such future productions will permit detailed laser scanned 3D computer maps to be made of their faces and entire body and stored in data bases which will include: generic motion capture recordings including eye motions, the unique body language of a particular actor (I noticed Anthony Hopkin's body language before his face), as well as voice spectrographs for speech. Once high speed computer algorithms and CGI effects evolve sufficiently, these celebrity actors (or their estates after their death) could simply be paid a cost effective royalty for their franchise and reserve more of their valuable time for actual performances during special film productions or theater.

In this way we will be able to see our favorite actors continue their screen appearances during their entire life and well after their death (if market rules permit), and once CGI computer techniques become cheap enough, increase the number of productions that celebrities can appear in for a small fraction of the normal production cost.
December 11, 2008

So-So movie, great Blu-Ray experience

As other reviewers can attest, this movie doesn't really achieve the promise of full performance capture. The real weakness is the inconsistency of the 3D actors. Some scenes are breathtakingly real, but others look like a videogame cinematic. For some reason Angelina Jolie looks different in every shot. The background townspeople look right out of Shrek. And the silly nude fight scene with Austin Powers cover ups.

BUT, this disc has some redeeming features. The Picture-in-Picture viewing of the performance captures sessions is amazing, You watch the movie alongside the original studio capture settings. It also reveals some of the limitations of the capture technology -- there are subtle nuances in the actors' performances that aren't translated to the final movie.

There's also a great 30 minute making-of that goes into details about filming in "The Volume", the amazing sound stage where all the mocap takes place. So if you are interested at all in the technology behind the making of this film, this disc is a must watch. Otherwise, it's an enjoyable rental. December 9, 2008

Great in IMAX - the DVD is so-so

I saw Beowulf at an IMAX theatre in 3D and it was an amazing experience. The CGI and the 3D process was near-perfect and enhanced the film greatly. The DVD is a totally different experience.

The story, based on the epic poem but is not a word-for-word transition to the screen, becomes more of a focus on the DVD since all the visuals are toned down. Purists will have a problem with Beowulf on this level. This action-packed film does not work on the small screen - especially if it is in 2D. December 9, 2008

Wish There Was a Way to Give this One a Zero

To each their own, something that applies very aptly to this 'title'. 'Beowulf' the great ancient classic of one of the greatest Norse warrior/cheiftans is a story that has been done a few times but never done well. And this film does not veer from that formula, by failing in the essential re-telling of the classic tale. I realise that a movie like this can not mirror the story-telling 100%, but to bastardize the story so greatly is a great dis-service to this epic poem.

The writers or who ever adapting this tale must of been on good drugs or had someone re-tell the story because making Beowulf a dishonest failure is not what this story should have been. Beowulf is one of the greatest heroes ever, and I've read the story and written many an essay on the subject for university, I love the story, so seeing this film was like getting kicked somewhere not too fun. Yes, the major characters are there, and nope none of them are played that well Grendel is made into an odd looking creature that sounds like the Swedish Chef's bizarre son that was hidden away for about 40 years. Grendel's mother, is made into some sort of seductress, perhaps the only reason for that is as a selling point, because Grendel's mother is a swamp hag and very much the mother of a hideous creature like Grendel, and oddly she turns into a dragon, something that has never happened in the book or any translation that I've ever read. Yes there is a dragon in the original tale but it was nothing more than a dragon not some mystical sexy witch. I know that with such an ancient story like Beowulf some liberties will be taken in the re-telling, it is derived from a verbal tradition, things change, and of course someone wants to make it their own version, but this film is the failed attempt at re-inventing the wheel.

Sure the visual aspect can be considered somewhat interesting, but the story still falls flat with poor acting, a story that isn't done properly and does not adhere to the original theme of Beowulf being the greatest in a tradition that exhalted their heroes. I half expected Uwe Boll's name to be passing by at the credits, I wouldn't even suggest this title as a rental, read a book or look into Beowulf and Grendel with Gerard Butler, that one is actually very interesting. December 8, 2008

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