Enjoyable yet flawed

Rating: 7/10 (10 December 2007)

While there are some conceptual things about this movie that I don't really agree with, such as modelling the faces of the actors in acute detail in CG instead of just using the actors themselves, I found that I enjoyed it a lot more than what I thought I would.
The graphics themselves are very impressive and almost photorealistic (which isn't necessarily a good thing, see previous comment). The film was more hardcore horror than what I thought it was going to be, which made it all the more surprising and entertaining for myself. I am very glad to see that Zemeckis hasn't settled into a groove and is trying new things cinematically, some of which are very evident here.
The voice acting was interesting - my guess is that as the Celts originated from Saxony it would make some sort of sense to have the actors put on different forms of Celtic accents, apart from Jolie's stereotypical Russian business and Winstone's broad London brogue. Given the pedigree of the writers it's not surprising that the script is very well written - not childish in the least, more engaging and adult than that. To be honest, I am very glad to see a major Western company putting in the effort to make a CG film that isn't aimed at children.
At points the film slows down to a laboured chug as some characters are developed. These moments are somewhat forgettable when the next action sequence comes along and amazes you. Trust me, they are amazing. Some complain that the movie isn't true to the poem and the whole story, to which I say well Frank Miller's 300 is based on such a story, yet takes many liberties, and I would put this movie in the same vein as this. It doesn't set out to be a perfect rendition of the poem.
Basically this is a very entertaining, adult movie with a bit of God of War about it, which is a very good thing. Definitely worth a watch.