The film strives for mythological depth and epic breadth, but it's hard to get below the flat, shallow gloss over every surface.
Comment
11/17/07
Beowulf (2007)
71
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:185
Fresh:131
Rotten:54
Average Rating:6.5/10
Consensus: Featuring groundbreaking animation, stunning visuals, and a talented cast, Beowulf has in spades what more faithful book adaptations forget to bring: pure cinematic entertainment.
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
US Box Office: $82,161,969
Synopsis: Director Robert Zemeckis mines the epic Old English poem for his latest action adventure to feature performance capture animation. The medieval tale was adapted for the screen by Neil Gaiman and... [More]
Starring: Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Robin Wright Penn
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Reviews for Beowulf
61 - 80 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Even the heaving bosom looks clunky.
11/17/07
Ultimately, Beowulf feels a lot like a video game blown up large: noise, action and funny walking intact.
11/16/07
It's a visual experience and maybe the best use of 3D-IMAX that we've seen. On a standard screen, it might not be as impressive.
11/16/07
As off-putting as the half-artificial characters are, and as slow as the movie is in parts, the images still have what seems to be endless depth and detail, which gives the action scenes an unprecedented, gut-whomping power.
11/16/07
It's imaginative, and it has the barreling forward motion and lurching thrills of a Dark Ages theme park, even when it's exercising battle-worn clichés.
11/16/07
Heads roll, arteries gush and spleens spill across the IMAX screen in Beowulf, just as you'd expect in a screen adaptation of the oldest surviving epic poem in the English language.
11/16/07
You want to read Beowulf? Get the book, I'm not stopping you. You want bloody adventure with a brain, see the movie.
11/16/07
The stuff that works in Beowulf really works, and the interaction between the human characters and the effects is so intricate that, flaws notwithstanding, I'm convinced this movie could have been made no other way.
11/16/07
It's the Beowulf saga once again, and the movie becomes tiresome and trivial -- well done within the narrow limits of its aspiration but not worth the inflated effort.
11/16/07
Director Robert Zemeckis moves things along lickety-split; for such a dark, heavy tale, lit by gray, diffuse far-northern skies and golden torchlight, the film is remarkably light on its feet.
11/16/07
Director Robert Zemeckis and his technical wizards have turned an English-class staple into a ripping -- not to mention ripped -- comic-book yarn that looks spectacular in Imax 3-D.
11/16/07
The film is utterly rousing and transporting -- sufficiently, in fact, to make you forgive, if not forget, the somewhat clumsy telling.
11/16/07
Zemeckis has been seduced by the siren call of motion capture... Memo to Zemeckis: come back to earth!
11/16/07
It is --quite literally -- an epic achievement.
11/16/07
Beowulf is as dazzling a feast for the eyes as the hungriest eyes can take.
11/16/07
If all this can be defined as animation, then Beowulf must be considered the front-runner for the Oscar in that category.
11/16/07
Beowulf is many things, but boring isn't one of them.
11/16/07
Carp about it all you want, but as Hollywood revisions of ancient writing go, Beowulf beats nonsense like Troy and 300 on all fronts: formally, thematically and intellectually.
11/16/07
For all the slash and burn of the action sequences and the 3-D technology with which it is being shown in many theaters, this Beowulf from director Robert Zemeckis feels more like a chore than a pleasure.
11/16/07
Latest News for Beowulf
May 19, 2009:
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Big, fat flakes of white snow suddenly began tumbling down in the roasting afternoon heat of the Cannes Film Festival yesterday. It wasn't global warming. It was just Cannes.... More...
May 06, 2008:
2008 MTV Movie Award Nominations Announced
It's almost time to hand out some golden popcorn -- the nominations for the 2008 MTV Movie Awards have been announced! More...
February 25, 2008:
RT on DVD: Beowulf, The Darjeeling Limited, Justice League Charge Onto DVD
He...is...Beowulf! Robert Zemeckis' latest CGI hero leads the charge among this week's new releases - get those pause buttons ready for Angelina's nude scene, fellas! - but... More...
January 13, 2008:
Beowulf (2007): Exclusive interstitials 
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