Beowulf [M]

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Starring: Christopher Lambert, Angelina Jolie, Rhona Mitra

In a time of heros, the mighty warrior Beowulf slays the monster Grendel and incurs the wrath of its monstrous yet seductive mother in a conflict that transforms a King into a legend. (PN)

Beowulf may well be the shape of movies of the not-too-distant future. The film was made using "motion capture" where the stars wear special suits to provide reference points for computer cameras to scan. The "flesh and blood" is then added using CGI enabling a seamless integration with special effects. Among other things, it means that the stars no longer have to look anything like the characters they are portraying (although that's certainly not the case with Angelina Jolie). This has been done before with, for example, Polar Express but that film went for a "cartoon" look unlike the more-natural avatars of Beowulf.

Rating:

Internet Movie Database listing for Beowulf.