Director Robert Zemeckis employs state-of-the-art computer animation to turn the famed Old English epic poem into a dynamic piece of pop culture that will resonate with young viewers who were entranced by Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. As re-imagined by graphic novel storytellers Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary, this heroic fantasy introduces us to the titular warrior (Ray Winstone, slimmed-down with six-pack-abs thanks to CGI), who rescues a Danish kingdom ruled by old King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins) and his beauteous queen Wealthow (Robin Wright Penn) from a hideous monster named Grendel (Crispin Glover), who is mortally wounded in a titanic battle with Beowulf. When the beast's mother (Angelina Jolie, in high-heeled feet not shoes) wreaks revenge on Beowulf's men, the intrepid warrior heads for the grotto where Grendel's mom lies in wait to seduce him. Zemeckis occasionally yields to an unfortunate temptation to camp up the proceedings, and the story not only strays considerably from the original (Grendel's mother was a monstrous hag, and a third-act raison d'etre for Beowulf's thrilling fight with a dragon is an absolute fabrication) but the dialogue also lacks a real sense of poetry. Still, this Beowulf does serve up solid adventure worthy of the most lavish live-action spectacle. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD extras for this “director's cut” (which adds less than a minute of extra gore) include the 24-minute “A Hero's Journey” making-of featurette, six deleted scenes (10 min.), a “Beasts of Burden” creature design segment (7 min.), “The Art of Beowulf” (6 min.), “The Origins of Beowulf” (5 min.), “Creating the Ultimate Beowulf” (2 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a decent animated action epic.] (E. Hulse)[Blu-ray Review—Aug. 5, 2008—Paramount, 114 min., not rated, $39.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2007's Beowulf features an excellent transfer and a Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. New to this Blu-ray edition is an “In the Volume” picture-in-picture track with behind-the-scenes information and web enabled features, “A Conversation with Robert Zemeckis” director featurette (10 min.), and “The Journey Continues” 20-minute featurette on the filming process. The other extras are identical to the original DVD release, including the 24-minute “A Hero's Journey” making-of featurette, six deleted scenes (10 min.), a “Beasts of Burden” creature design segment (7 min.), “The Art of Beowulf” (6 min.), “The Origins of Beowulf” (5 min.), “Creating the Ultimate Beowulf” (2 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a film that looks fantastic on Blu-ray.]
Beowulf
Paramount, 114 min., PG-13, DVD: $29.99, Feb. 26 Volume 23, Issue 1
Beowulf
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