Beowulf (2007)

Number Rolled: 91

Movie Name/Year: Beowulf (2007)

Genre: Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Length: 114 minutes

Rating: PG-13

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Writer: Neil Gaiman, Roger Avary

Actors: Robin Wright, Anthony Hopkins, Sonje Fortag, Sharisse Baker-Bernard, Charlotte Salt, Julene Renee-Preciado, Greg Ellis, Rik Young, Sebastian Roche, Leslie Zemeckis, John Malkovich, Woody Schultz, Crispin Glover, Ray Winstone, Brendan Gleeson, Costas Mandylor, Chris Coppola, Angelina Jolie, Dominic Keating, Alison Lohman

A town held a celebration in their brand new mead hall. Singing, dancing and drinking drew the ire of a twisted and broken creature. After having their hall (and many of their people) completely demolished, they learned that the demon responsible was called Grendel. Knowing he could not kill the creature on his own, the king offered half his kingdoms gold to a hero that could save his land. It was not long before Beowulfs sail appeared in the distance.

I had the good fortune of seeing this movie in theaters. Not just any theater, but the kind you actually have to lean the chair back in order to see the entire screen. As awesome as that was, I feel like I missed some of the nuances that I was able to catch while watching it on my own television. Such as the way the animators made the snow sparkle slightly to make it look closer to real.

The characters movements were a little stiff but six years ago, when this movie first came out, the style seemed a lot more advanced. I remember being completely blown away by it, and I have to take that into account.

There’s nothing I can say about the story itself. It’s the kind of classic that has been used in English courses for a long time and will continue to be used in the future. The epic poem that spawned this movie certainly does not need my critique. I will say that I thought the script held as closely to the poem as it possibly could.

Pretty much, I thought “Beowulf” was amazing and I was particularly fond of the aesthetics involved with the non-human creatures.

Overall Opinion – 4/5

P.S. Robert Zemeckis also directed “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and “Back to the Future.”