A Very Exciting Story With Superb Animation

Rating: 8/10 (23 September 2011)

I'm not especially familiar with the Old English saga on which this is based, nor am I particularly interested in the Norse mythology that serves as its basis in general. Still, I found this to be a very good movie. It's exciting pretty much from beginning to end, but what really struck me was the quality of the animation. It is absolutely superb, to the point at which there are times when you wouldn't even know this was animated. Those who put this together made the very wise decision to make the animated characters look like the actors who are voicing the roles, so that Hrothgar looks like Anthony Hopkins and doesn't just have his voice - and, again, the animated Hopkins was spectacularly like the real Hopkins. In a way that made me wonder if this not have been even better as a blend of live action with animation. Why so meticulously recreate the looks of the actors? Why not just put them onto the screen sometimes?
The story is interesting throughout. Hrothgar's kingdom is being menaced by a strange and grotesque creature named Grendel. When all hope seems lost Beowulf (Ray Winstone) shows up as the miracle Hrothgar had been waiting for and does battle with both Grendel and Grendel's demonic mother. It's a great ride all the way through - graphic, with good dialogue and very exciting. There really isn't much here that could be criticized, except perhaps that decision not to mix in some live action. If I were a real connoisseur of the story, I'd probably rate this even more highly. (8/10)