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Beowulf (2007) Starring: Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Anthony Hopkins by Richard Leigh 
In November 2007 director Robert Zemeckis brought us the hit film that is 'Beowulf'. It is based on the Old English epic poem of the same name and was captured in a similar way as was utilised by Zemeckis in his 2004 film 'The Polar Express'. I'm not usually a massive fan of motion capture films, but as soon as I saw the trailer for this film I just knew that I had to see it. 'Beowulf' really captured my imagination and as I prepared to view it I think that to say I was excited would be a gross understatement.
Cast in this film are people such as John Malkovich, Ray Winstone, Angelina Jolie, and even Anthony Hopkins. With this being a motion picture, none of them physically appear but what can be noted when viewing this film is that the on screen representations of these stars bear a great similarity and resemblance to how all of them genuinely do look. This is a big budget production, you can see why it would have cost them $150 million in the making; it can not have been an easy task creating this feature and to have used such high profile cast must have been a greatly costly measure. The film begins in Denmark, it's the year 507AD and problems are awry with the monster that is Grendel. Grendel has been annoyed by the noise that is emerging from the towns people as they celebrate the construction of the new mead hall Heorot. Grendel causes great destruction, King Hrothgar responds to this by making the statement that he will give half the gold in the kingdom to any person that can defeat Grendel. It is here that Beowulf steps in, arriving from Geatland he announces that he shall defeat Grendel and duly sticks to his word. It is here that the problems really begin for Beowulf as before Grendel died he returned to his mothers cave and told her who had done this to him. She is understandably seeking vengeance, and it is here that the film really starts to unfold as a series of events take place and things begin to change in Denmark. There'll be a lot of you already aware of how it all pans out, but for those of you that are not aware of this tale then I shall leave it at this and allow you to find out for yourselves if you so wish. After viewing this film I was left in two minds about it all. The film was in places screened in 3D at the cinema and whilst I personally was not able to see it at one of these cinemas; I can understand how excellent it may have been to have seen the film in this form. That said, when the film comes to DVD then even those that had the pleasure of viewing it in 3D at the cinema will have to put up with the standard conventional viewing experience of 'Beowulf'. This I feel was not at all well thought out, and although the film is vaguely enjoyable; to have seen it in 3D would have completed the experience I feel and is really half the fun of 'Beowulf'. In terms of casting I feel that 'Beowulf' is quite well chosen, and although there are a few areas in which it could have been improved the performances are all still pretty enjoyable. Ray Winstone was an interesting choice to say the least, and whilst his accent sounds a little bizarre here I still enjoyed the life that he injected into the character of Beowulf. I like Ray Winstone as an actor and thought that he did an extremely good job here. Angelina Jolie is also excellent as Grendel's mother, and as King Hrothgar Anthony Hopkins is truly sensational. No one disappoints here, the CGI brings to life perfectly all the key characters here and everything about the film is great to watch performance wise. The action is played out well on screen, whilst I'm not usually one for watching motion capture films I found myself to be greatly engrossed as I watched this film. It's not my typical sort of film at all, and yet I am glad that I broadened my horizons and opened my eyes to this film as had I not done then I would have missed out on a truly excellent film. I would never generally watch a film given a 12 rating either, I often find that films given below a 15 rating are more than a little lacking in substance. Due to the motion capture technique used to create this film however, they get away with a lot more than what they would were this a feature film. This is therefore a lot deeper and a lot raunchier than your typical 12 rated film, it's an enjoyable film to watch and could well be the one that pushes me forth into a world of watching motion capture films. Despite my praise for this film I still must say that to watch it in 3D would be to really complete the experience. If you didn't get the chance to see it at the cinema then this window of opportunity has therefore been missed, but on the plus side there is plenty here to keep you entertained in good old standard 2D format anyway. The cast here are well chosen, their performances come across brilliantly, and all in all 'Beowulf' is greatly impressive. It's not perfect, but then again what film ever truly is. Personally this is one that I'd definitely recommend, it was this week brought to DVD and if you didn't see it at the cinema then now is definitely your chance. It's one for the rental list I feel, perhaps not one you'd want to own on DVD but definitely a film that is worth a watch. The Old English epic poem is brought to life brilliantly here, it's certainly not a film that disappoints.  Rating: 3 out of 5 Details about the film: |
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