Beowulf Early Reviews, Clips

Paramount Movie Stars Angelina Jolie, Opens November 16th

Nov 8, 2007
Dominic von Riedemann

Beowulf in Grendel's Mother's cave - copyright 2007 Paramount Home Entertainment

Check out nine clips from Paramount's upcoming motion capture flick Beowulf. Robert Zemeckis film opens November 16th.

Beowulf's been enjoying some pretty sweet buzz from critics en route to its November 16th theatrical debut.

Ain't It Cool News' Moriarty delivered a positive early review of the flick, saying that it's "a great movie, hugely entertaining and exciting and surprisingly adult." While admitting that he disliked Robert Zemeckis' output over the past decade, Moriarty writes that the Forrest Gump director "knocked that chip off my shoulder about ten minutes in."

Jeffrey Wells: Beowulf "deserves the Best Feature Animation Oscar"

Hollywood Elsewhere's Jeffrey Wells was even more effusive in his praise. In an open letter to Beowulf executive producer and co-scriptwriter Roger Avary, Wells said that "I'm not a huge fan of this type of film . . . but Beowulf is really and truly something else (all bold caps his). For me it's a new permutation of movie thrills along with an underlying adult intrigue -- a sense of spiritual complexity and even existential angst -- that fortifies thematically."

(A quick side note: Do you get the feeling Wells really wants Avery and Zemeckis to use these quotes on a poster?)

"I found it far more exciting and complex in every respect than 300, a homoerotic meathead flick that I pretty much hated," Wells continues. "Beowulf, however, is a fascinating story about a hero with feet of clay made into the most visually arresting and exciting adventure of this type I've ever seen.

"This film is obviously animated through and through. It deserves the Best Feature Animation Oscar, bar none."

Is Beowulf an Animated Film?

While no one doubts Wells' enthusiasm, it's questionable whether Beowulf matches AMPAS' requirements for an animated feature film, due to the fact that it's a motion-capture flick (I'm currently working on a story about this). Not only that, the field is pretty tough this year, with both the French-language Persepolis and Pixar's Ratatouille being strong contenders for Best Animated Feature Film.

However, Persepolis is also France's pick for Best Foreign Language Film, which may dilute its chances at the Animated title. In addition, rumour says that, given the flick's bullet-proof reviews, Ratatouille may be up for this year's Best Picture Award.

If Ratatouille guns for the big prize – the only other animated film to ever be nominated for Best Picture was 1991's Beauty and the Beast, back before there was an animated category – another animated film, like Beowulf, may have a shot.

Beowulf Clips

Coming Soon scored nine clips from Beowulf as a little taste of what lies ahead for moviegoers. The clips are offered both in QuickTime and Windows Media Player. My links below take you to the QuickTime clips.

The first one, "Here to Kill your Monster" features our titular hero (voice by Ray Winstone, body by Alan Ritchson) offering to wax Heorot's party crasher Grendel.
Number two, "Meet the Water Demon," offers a partially naked Beowulf for the girls (or boys; not that there's anything wrong with that), and a mostly naked Grendel's Mother (Angelina Jolie) for the boys.
"My Glamor" (American spelling! Ack!) follows up on the previous clip, showing our hero and DILF Jolie continuing their discussion.
"Not My Curse Anymore" follows a discussion between Beowulf and Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins). One word: yikes.
"Dragon Battle" is exactly what the title says: Beowulf scrapping with a wyrm.
"Grendel Attacks" features the aforementioned monster (Crispin Glover) demonstrating his party-crashing tricks. Much mayhem and mirth (not really) ensue.
"Ancestral Sword" features Unferth (John Malkovich) toadying up to Beowulf. Queen Wealtheow (Robin Wright-Penn) looks dubious.
"Dragon Attacks Castle" shows a young Geat girl nearly getting flambéed by an attacking dragon.
"Sea Monsters" is the same clip I talked about over here.

WMP types can check out all the clips, plus trailers and TV spots, by clicking here. Beowulf invades both regular and IMAX theatres on November 16th. Look for a review in this space.