Beowulf

Beowulf



Animation has come on leaps and bounds since the days when Walt Disney drew his famous mouse. Nowadays the line between Animation and Live-action is blurred with more and more use of computer generated effects. Beowulf is an entire film generated by a computer; rendering actors into animated versions of themselves.

The story is set in a Danish village in 507AD, where a great King (Anthony Hopkins) lives out his twilight years getting drunk and partying loudly. The loud parties cause the Monster Grendel pain in his sensitive ear drums, so he decides to do a spot of human bashing and kill most of the King’s soldiers.

Word gets out about the King’s monster woes and a Hero called Beowulf (Ray Winstone) travels to slay the beast, not for gold and wealth, but for glory. Having defeated Grendel with his bare hands, everyone is left in awe of his heroics; Everyone except for Grendel’s mother (Angelina Jolie), who repays his efforts by mutilating all his soldiers.

Confronting the Monster’s Mother, he fails to kill her. Instead, he fathers her new son, much worse than Grendel, and has to live with the consequences.

Based on a Norse legend the fable is about the true meaning of the word hero. Crowned as the new King, Beowulf slowly learns that there is more to being a hero than the glory and popularity that goes with it.

The graphics in this film are nothing short of astounding. If you get a chance to see this film in 3D, I’d recommend it. With broken and twisted soldiers being thrown out of the screen and overhead, you’ll catch yourself ducking in the cinema. The attention to detail is second to none, with every frame filled to perfection.

Verdict 9/10
With advances like this in cinema, the future looks bright.