Reviews

Beowulf

Full-blown FX

By TOM MEEK | November 20, 2007

2.5 Stars

VIDEO: Watch the trailer for Beowulf.

In Polar Express, Robert Zemeckis unveiled “performance capture,” a nifty process that turned actors into CGI figments. In this updating of the Old English epic of devils, demons, dragons, and the title hero, Zemeckis goes one step farther, transforming his flesh-and-blood actors into full-blown FX. As Beowulf (mostly in voice), the reliable and paunchy Ray Winstone develops a digitally chiseled physique; Angelina Jolie, as the water nymph and mother of the murderous monster plaguing a Danish kingdom (Crispin Clover the perfect choice for Grendel), fares less well and seems merely colorized. All this cutting-edge techno-wizardry spawns yet another live-action graphic novel, with Beowulf a swaggering braggart doomed by hubris. Although loyal to its roots, the story, co-scripted by Roger Avary (Pulp Fiction), wanders into new territory after the Geat warrior slays Grendel. It drops its epic posture and spews far too many double entendres. 115 minutes | Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + Circle + Suburbs

Related: Numb Skull, Nick Cave Q&A, Indie dependents, More

Topics: Reviews , Entertainment, Movies, Action Adventure Films, More

| More

Be the first to comment / Add Comment

Add Comment

HTML Prohibited

Friends' Activity

Popular

Most Viewed

See more deals

view all

[ 05/19 ] "8th Annual 'Rock the Village' Fashion and Style Show" @ Brighton Music Hall

[ 05/19 ] Pete Hamill @ Porter Square Books

[ 05/19 ] Rachael Price @ Scullers

ARTICLES BY TOM MEEK

REVIEW: HESHER | May 12, 2011
There's plenty to admire in Spencer Susser's feature debut, like the impressive cast — Rainn Wilson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Natalie Portman, Piper Laurie — and the heartfelt intentions of Susser's dark coming-of-age tale.

REVIEW: SAVIORS IN THE NIGHT | May 12, 2011
Ludi Boeken's earnest adaptation of Marga Spiegel's memoir sheds new light on that much-filmed topic, the Holocaust, largely because it takes place in a small German town over the course of the war, providing a microcosm of a society in the throes of a historical catastrophe.

REVIEW: FORKS OVER KNIVES | May 12, 2011
If Food Inc. didn't scare you off red meat, Forks over Knives just might do the trick.

BOSTON'S NEW HUBWAY SYSTEM COULD TRANSFORM HOW YOU GET AROUND TOWN | May 09, 2011
On April 21, amid a throng of cyclists gathered at City Hall Plaza, Boston Mayor Tom Menino announced that the city had just inked a deal to institute a bike-sharing system that would be operational by mid-summer this year.

REVIEW: FAST FIVE | May 06, 2011
In the 10 years since the F&F franchise first fired up, it has regularly spun out retreads of its tired premise, pitting the righteous against the heavy with a backdrop of car boosting, drag racing, and bum cheeks hanging out of hot pants.

See all articles by: TOM MEEK

Most Viewed

Most Emailed

STORMING NEW YORK WITH HAROLD CAMPING'S RAPTURE WARRIORS
I'm riding shotgun through Times Square in a flatbed truck draped with placards, advertising the impending End of Days: HAVE YOU HEARD THE AWESOME NEWS?

GOD HATES FAQS
Editors' note: We selected David S. Bernstein to serve as our resident Rapture expert, on account of his having seen all three Kirk Cameron Left Behind series film adaptations.

DANCING TO LIFE'S DESIRE LINES WITH LYKKE LI
You already love Lykke Li. You may not know that you do, exactly.

BLISS OF RAPTURE
Okay, I'm not happy , exactly, that, as a Jew, I am excluded from Saturday's date with Heaven's eternal rewards, and will instead be left to suffer through great tribulations before perishing, with the rest of the Army of the Antichrist, as a dismembered corpse beneath a waste-deep river of blood.

FREE OUR FOOD
"From farm to table" isn't just a meaningless foodie slogan anymore. It's the rallying cry for the smallest of small-scale farming operations in Maine, which are fighting against what they consider to be burdensome state and federal regulations.