Well the title don't say as much but this is my review/thoughts
on the new Avary/Gaiman/Zemeckis version of "Beowulf".
I've been skeptical of this since day one. Mostly because of
the technology being used to make it. I thought his previous
movie "Polar Express" that was done in this digital fa****on
was odd and creepy looking and even though they had said
something to the effect of this being version 2.0 of the
technology and vastly improved I had my doubts. Even the
ads and trailers didn't completely convince me.
I was wrong. This is a stunning advance in the state of
the art of digital film making. It's close to perfect at this
point. I imagine that in a couple of years you won't be able
to distinguish virtual actors and sets from the real thing.
The biggest flaw is the mouths don't quite look right all the
time.
The 3D was a big surprise. I hadn't heard or read anything
that indicated the film would be shown in 3D until I read the
review of the movie that Rolling Stone did. I believe it is
being shown without 3D as well. My recommendations would be
to drive the extra miles to see it in 3D if you can find it
being shown that way. The biggest drawback is that you'll
have to spend an extra $2 for the special plastic gl***** to
view it. A small price since this was easily the best 3D film
technology I've ever encountered. It was very immersive and
realistic. It's come a long way since the red and blue paper
gl***** days.
Having said all that about the technologies behind the film
my review of the actual film itself is rather short and sweet.
It was a very good ride. I quite enjoyed it and I highly
recommends it to anyone that likes a good fantasy/adventure.
I'm not intimately familiar with the epic poem that it's
based on but from my vague remembrances of it and the few
film versions I've already seen I think it keeps the spirit
of the tale quite well. All the actors involved did a
sterling job and the script was crisp and well paced with
little in the way of slow spots. I think it's easily worth
the money for the theatre experience on this one especially
if you can catch the 3D engagement.
Ivory
