A few weeks ago, I prepared myself for this movie by renting Beowulf & Grendel, starring that guy from 300. By the end of it, I was really wishing I hadn’t. It’s long, slow, and boring and caused me to go into this Beowulf with a little hesitation.
The two movies start almost identically. But after all the Grendel nonsense is over, Beowulf 3D keeps going. So instead of spending two hours on the famous troll, you only spend one and it’s a much better story for it. Sure, it’s still slow at spots and a little boring in others, but that could be because the story was so fresh in my mind that nothing surprised me.
In the last hour, I thought the story really found its wings (that’s a joke for those that have seen it). Beowulf’s actions with Grendel come full circle and we get to watch him deal with the consequences. It’s fantastic.
If you’ve seen the trailers, you know this movie is made with the same art design as The Polar Express. Some people hate this and that’s fine. I don’t mind it, but I have played a few recent video games that looked better than the movie.
The real draw is the 3D. There are parts that are laughably bad, but on the whole, the 3D experience is worth the extra $1.75 AMC shakes you down for.
If you don’t care about the 3D aspects, or the people look too freaky for you, skip it for now and rent the DVD in a few months.
Grade: A (B if not in 3D)
John's Movie Musings 