Background: Robert Zemeckis (Back To The Future) directs this animated movie, based on the famous heroic poem. The technology being used to create the movie is that used in Zemeckis' previous film The Polar Express ("motion-capturing" actors to animate over them.) It stars Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright Penn, Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Brendan Gleeson and Crispin Glover. The script was written by celebrated graphic novelist Neil Gaiman (Sandman) and Roger Avary (Pulp Fiction).
Review: The trailer itself is a tantalizing glimpse at the animated world Zemeckis has created, populated by nearly photo-realistic people. The technology still leaves them looking like shiny puppets, but it's certainly an improvement on the "dead eyed" Polar Express characters. That said, while Beowulf certainly looks amazing for an animation, you can't help but wonder what the point is. There's nothing here that suggests it wouldn't be improved by having real actors and real locations, with some CGI effects applied afterwards.
Prediction: I'm sure Beowulf will do well at the box-office, but I have a suspicion these kinds of animated movies are just not really required. Animated films are fine, but they work because they're clearly cartoons (from Disney's 2D back-catalogue through to Pixar's 3D reign). When technology is being pushed to try and create 100% realistic actors... why not just film actors? Previous such films have failed at the box-office, from Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within to Zemeckis' own Polar Express. The interest just isn't there. However, if the story is tight and the action diverting, the unnecessary means of creation could be overlooked...
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HD 480p (23 MB)
HD 720p (71 MB)
HD 1080p (125 MB)
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