TrekSucksHard
11-15-2007, 06:04 AM
The saga of Beowulf is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) written works in the English language and is a timeless tale much in the tradition of epic heroes like Hercules or Achilles. Anyone who went to high school in America (and I can assume in England as well) would have surely been required to read about Beowulf, King Hrothgar, the monster Grendel and Heorot hall.
Since the Polar Express it seems apparent that Robert Zemeckis has fallen in love with motion capture on his actors to create a film using previously unheard of camera angles and computer imagery in order to both lower production costs and enhance the action sequences without costly live-action effects.
Since pretty much everyone knows the story of Beowulf and his battle with the monster Grendel there really is no need to discuss the plot if you know the story- it pretty much is predictable in that sense (although there is a bit of back story added to it which gives the film an Oedipal like tragedy and gives Grendel a motivation to kill). While Zemeckis' previous movie the Polar Express pioneered the motion capture effects, Zemeckis seems to have finally found the proper medium for it- instead of a children's book he uses an old English poem (the screenplay was written by Neil Gaman and Roger Avary- for the Sandman comic books and Resevoir Dogs respectively) full of blood and battle which finally utilizes the technique to full effect.
The battle sequences reminded me of a combination of LOTR and 300 and they are excitingly done- the first appearance of Grendel (even though I was expecting it) came as quite a bit of a shock and was intense and suspenseful. Although the movie starts to run out of steam towards the end, there is enough spellbinding sequences to make audiences say, "how did they do that?"
And I have to add that the actors who participated in it came off quite well, there was a bit of John Malkovich in the weasel like Unferth, and you could recognize Angelina Jolie as Grendel's mom and Anthony Hopkins as King Hrothgar. But probably the most changed actor using the motion capture technique is Beowulf himself- since the actor who plays him, Ray Winston, is as old and fat as you get, he seemed to have been recreated using computer enhancement to have a body like Brad Pitt in TROY. If this trend continues then I guess actors won't even need to work out anymore to maintain a body tone- they could just use computer enhancement to change their body type and get rid of any baldness or wrinkles in their faces and be young forever. Could this be the future for actors?
All in all, I would rate this an 8 out of 10. The action sequences are terrific but the predictable story drags it down a few notches. I am quite interested in future movies that set this sort of standard in regards to special effects since it opens a whole wealth of possibilities.
Since the Polar Express it seems apparent that Robert Zemeckis has fallen in love with motion capture on his actors to create a film using previously unheard of camera angles and computer imagery in order to both lower production costs and enhance the action sequences without costly live-action effects.
Since pretty much everyone knows the story of Beowulf and his battle with the monster Grendel there really is no need to discuss the plot if you know the story- it pretty much is predictable in that sense (although there is a bit of back story added to it which gives the film an Oedipal like tragedy and gives Grendel a motivation to kill). While Zemeckis' previous movie the Polar Express pioneered the motion capture effects, Zemeckis seems to have finally found the proper medium for it- instead of a children's book he uses an old English poem (the screenplay was written by Neil Gaman and Roger Avary- for the Sandman comic books and Resevoir Dogs respectively) full of blood and battle which finally utilizes the technique to full effect.
The battle sequences reminded me of a combination of LOTR and 300 and they are excitingly done- the first appearance of Grendel (even though I was expecting it) came as quite a bit of a shock and was intense and suspenseful. Although the movie starts to run out of steam towards the end, there is enough spellbinding sequences to make audiences say, "how did they do that?"
And I have to add that the actors who participated in it came off quite well, there was a bit of John Malkovich in the weasel like Unferth, and you could recognize Angelina Jolie as Grendel's mom and Anthony Hopkins as King Hrothgar. But probably the most changed actor using the motion capture technique is Beowulf himself- since the actor who plays him, Ray Winston, is as old and fat as you get, he seemed to have been recreated using computer enhancement to have a body like Brad Pitt in TROY. If this trend continues then I guess actors won't even need to work out anymore to maintain a body tone- they could just use computer enhancement to change their body type and get rid of any baldness or wrinkles in their faces and be young forever. Could this be the future for actors?
All in all, I would rate this an 8 out of 10. The action sequences are terrific but the predictable story drags it down a few notches. I am quite interested in future movies that set this sort of standard in regards to special effects since it opens a whole wealth of possibilities.