a film that overdoes itself and relies too much on its special effects

Rating: 3/10 (26 January 2008)

"Beowulf" was a sore disappointment for me, especially since I was expecting so much more from a talented director like Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, etc). His recent medieval monster movie based on an old English poem of the same name, is a messy, under-developed, poorly written, and over-reactive high-budget film that unfortunately descends into schlock. It revolves around a hero named Beowulf who likes to hunt and fight monsters and is out to fight a creature called Grendel, who has developed a sudden and unfavorable habit of attacking a local kingdom. Grendel has a sadistic mother, yet another opponent for Beowulf and his men. It was a very fine idea that could have been wonderful and glorious, but is boring and sometimes disturbing.
Visually, the movie is an extravagant treat. The special effects, though not convincing at all times, are plentiful and compelling. The 3-D models that substitute in for the actors during impossible-to-perform scenes are convincing, the monsters look real, and so on and so forth. But like I mentioned in my summary, the movie relies too much on its visuals and not enough on substance. The character of our story are weak, boring, uninteresting, too simple to be compelling, and oftentimes very irritating. While there were some good performances from Ray Whinstone and Anthony Hopkins, it didn't really help any.
So if character development is poor and visuals are good, does that make "Beowulf" a film that can just be enjoyed for what it is? Sadly, no. It still lacks substance that is present in numerous, much better mindless action movies of the same genre and order. There is not enough action for a two-hour mindless action movie, and some action sequences are completely preposterous. Such as the idea of a naked man doing somersaults through the air while fighting a monster. Or sliding down the belly of a sea monster while slicing its belly open and pouring impossible amounts of blood into the water. Overall, there are many preposterous moments in the film that devoid us of any entertainment value. It almost seems comical, but is too perturbing to be even that.
In the end, "Beowulf" is a major disappointment. Even under command of a talented director such as Robert Zemeckis, the film can not work out. It begins as weakly and strangely as it ends.