Classics Comics, but the pictures move and they're in 3D

Rating: 7/10 (22 November 2007)

Neil Gaiman started out writing plots for graphic novels (the "Sandman" series, followed up by "Good Omens" and other text novels that play with occult themes). That sensibility is plastered all over the screen -- not a shot that wouldn't fit on an EC comic book page (including the ones in which Anglina Jolie's character is on screen). Great Literature it's not -- you won't hear the rhythms of the original saga nor will you hear sparkling dialog, and you won't see depth of characterization. But you will see feats of derring-do and well-directed visuals and some remarkable examples of applied compute-power (though why the artists gave Robin Penn Warren's Queen the lips of Merrill Streep is beyond me). Accept the work for what it wanted to be and enjoy.