Beowulf

This evening I went to the cinema for the first time this month to see Beowulf. There have been posters all over town, and I was interested to see how a motion captured film would actually look on the big screen.

If you don't know the story, it is based on an Anglo-Saxon poem that is believed to be about 1,200 years old and is one of the earliest examples of English literature.

The story is set in Denmark, where aging dragon slayer King Hrothgar (played by Anthony Hopkins) is holding celebrations in his new mead-hall. Unfortunately this disturbs the rest of the monster Grendel, who attacks the hall.

A message goes out across Scandinavia that the King will give half his gold to anyone who can kill the beast.

Beowulf hears of the Thanes plight, so comes to their land with his troops. On their first night he manages to kill Grendel, but this incurs the wrath of its mother (played by Angelina Jolie).

The story was adapted for the screen by Neil Gaiman ("Mirrormask, the graphic novel," "Sandman") & Roger Avary ("Pulp Fiction").

The story was fairly interesting but, as I have never read the original, I have no idea as to how divergent the film is from the original poem.

The fact that it was animated based on motion capture of well known actors was also rather off-putting. I like animation, and I can see the need for animated non-human character (like Grendel), or making a character appear less human (like Grendel's mother), but I see little reason to animate every character.

However there was a big plus for me that really made the film stand out (in more ways than one). I watched the film in 3D on a very large Imax screen.

This really made the film leap out at you, and actually drew me much more into the action. I watched as the people around me actually jumped, or leaned back in their seats as a direct response to the action on the screen.

So, in summary I would say that if you can see the film in 3D on an Imax screen, then it is definitely worth seeing. However if it was just showing on a small screen at a local cinemaplex, then I probably wouldn't watch it (unless you are a fan of films like 300).