Review - Beowulf

As far as I am concerned, Neil Gaiman can do no wrong. His novels and graphic novels are amazing and his screen adaptations have thus far been spectacular. Stardust was a magnificent film and now Gaiman has taken a classic epic that has bored millions of middle-school students and added layers to it that resulted in a fine film. Gaiman's Beowulf is a haughty, arrogant hero and his Grendel is not simply a raging beast but a monster driven to murder by the parties of Hrothgar's meadhall. He has taken characters that were medieval archetypes and made them both interesting and relevant, a feat that I would have believed impossible.
With that said, any storytelling magic that Gaiman may have injected into this script was inconsequential in the face of Zemeckis's grand experiment. Beowulf, which has so much potential succeeds as little more than a film school project. Zemeckis foregos storytelling to experiment visually with his motion capture technology and though the results are mesmerizing, the final product is ultimately disappointing. The scene where Grendel's mother(Angelina Jolie) rises out of the water and begins her seduction of Beowulf and the final battle scene are both amazing visual achievements but their content is terribly overshadowed by their construction.
The most noteworthy thing about Beowulf is its use of sound. From the second the movie starts with the pounding drums of Hrothgar's meadhall to the shrieking death of the dragon in the final scenes the sound is captivating. It is one of the few films where the sound is not only noticeable but commanding.
The film is entertaining to watch for the most part although I could never stop asking myself why it wasn't just made with real people. Even the characterizations of the people within the film weren't really fleshed out, especially Beowulf. The deepest we get into his character is his repeated announcement that "[He] IS Beowulf!"
Its a shame that a film with this much potential was wasted just to make something that looks pretty. Still though, it's worth watching just for the effects... and Angelina.