Mediocre.

Rating: 6/10 (17 November 2007)

Over the past few years I have enjoyed the progress of animated film making, PIXAR often giving the most noteworthy contribution.
However, BEOWULF is a step backwards in what animated film making should be.
First and foremost, the film drags. It attempts to stretch a 40-minute-or-so plot over a period of two hours, resulting in a lot of dead space where no progress in the story is made. Useless, predictable lines are uttered and shots are held out longer for "emphasis" in the place of quality storytelling, hallmarks of uninspired direction.
Throughout most of the film, we see VERY impressive artwork--great textures, great models, great hair, skin, water etc. Some characters are better than others. The better ones not only look real, but possess a great deal of character.
However, most of this cool, realistic-looking stuff doesn't MOVE right, despite the fact that a lot of the animation is motion-captured. This severely affects how characters emote throughout most of the film. What results are awkward and inexpressive performances from the virtual actors. Only a handful of shots in the film actually had heart and soul in the animation, where characters actually emote properly. Unfortunately, these were in the second half of the film.
When Beowulf is put next to Ratatouille or Shrek, the difference in animation and quality of storytelling is immediately noticeable. It feels as though PIXAR and Dreamworks really care about the movement and expression of the characters and the pacing of the story. In addition, they manage to pull off better screen writing in their animations. BEOWULF pales in comparison in these regards.
It's not good animation, and should be discouraged in modern film making. 5 out of 10.