Looks wonderful, but heart and magic is missing

Rating: 5/10 (23 November 2007)

Beowulf, directed by Robert Zemeckis, is based on the old legend of a warrior who travels to fight a demon, but then makes a deal with the demon's mother,that will have terrible consequences years later.....
The script by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avery is a good one. The actors, whom I understand were filmed in motion-capture suits and the animated give good vocal performances. The movie action scenes wouldn't have looked out of place in some live action movies.
So why doesn't it quite work??
The answer lies in it's greatest strength : the animation. The look of the film is stunning. It's one of the best-looking CGI-animated movies ever. It raises the bar for whatever follows it. HOWEVER, the animation robs the story of it's magic and heart. In trying to look great (which it does), it leave behind characters that you don't connect with. The magic of, for example Stardust (another Gaiman story), The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, Excalibur is missing.
As I said, the actors do their part well, even if the computer animated version of Ray Winstone as Beowulf looks more like Sean Bean, and Angelina Jolie looks sexy as hell in animation as in real life! Zemeckis, directs well and if he'd done it live action it would have been a thrilling movie.
As a new level in animation, it is superb. I just wish the animation could have left in some magic and heart in the story. Then it would have been a masterpiece.