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Movie Overview
Cast
• Ray Winstone
• Anthony Hopkins
• John Malkovich
Director
• Robert Zemeckis
MPAA Rating
PG-13 - for intense sequences of violence including disturbing images, some sexual material and nudity
Beowulf (2007)

REVIEWS
NEWS
INTERVIEWS
OTHER
OFCS Rating: 56% Rotten
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3.5/5
"A gruff, bawdy boys'-own adventure with a surprisingly sophisticated sting in its tail."  Eye for Film  Anton Bitel

4/5
"Beowulf brays and boasts, it overwhelms and it soars. Like the tendency to exaggerate inherent in its hero, it's a majestic movie that doesn't quite add up to the epic we anticipate."  PopMatters  Bill Gibron

B+
"Don't let Paramount's atrocious marketing fool you, Beowulf is a film of great surprise and heart-stopping visual gusto. It also reaffirms Robert Zemeckis's place as a brilliant cinematic architect, still capable of eliciting eye-watering awe."  eFilmCritic.com  Brian Orndorf

3/5
"While the new 'Beowulf' easily meets its quota for computer-generated spectacle and gore, the script has interesting touches but isn't for the ages."  eFilmCritic.com  Dan Lybarger

A-
"Hot: who knew Beowulf took on Grendel in the buff? Zemeckis scores big in this groundbreaking, entertaining, must-see holiday release."  EDGE Boston  David Foucher

1.5/4
"For all the visual wizardry at work on screen in Robert Zemeckis' "Beowulf," it's a wonder I found myself leaving the theater feeling lifeless and unenthusiastic."  Cinemaphile.org  David Keyes

C
"In the tradition of ribald Hollywood blockbusters."  Ozus' World Movie Reviews  Dennis Schwartz

2/4
"Because the picture's technical side is so extraordinary, it is truly saddening to have to write that Beowulf isn't a very good movie. Take away the visuals, and what is left is a talky, subdued, lifeless affair."  TheMovieBoy.com  Dustin Putman

C+
"Without the elements of crystal-clear digital projection and awe-inspiring 3-D animation, the film doesn't have much going for it."  EricDSnider.com  Eric D. Snider

4/4
"Robert Zemeckis doesn't just give English classes new interpretations to discuss but advances the technological limitations of animation to a level that makes high-definition look like a Falkirk Transmitter."  eFilmCritic.com  Erik Childress

B
"This isn't your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother's Beowulf."  Film Blather  Eugene Novikov

"At the end of it all, if you take away the violence, the defiantly in-your-face nudity, and Angelina Jolie, you will find very little story underneath."  DVD Review  Felix Gonzalez Jr.

1/4
"It's a bland and lethargic piece of Hollywood tripe that not even the presence of Ray Winstone could salvage..."  Cinema Crazed  Felix Vasquez Jr.

3/4
"Hay algo en los ojos de un ser humano que a mi criterio es imposible de replicar. Pero la pasaremos excelente en el cine mientras personas como Zemeckis sigan intentándolo."  Doncinema.com  Flavio J. Arosemena

C+
"A 300-style adaptation that...turns Beowulf into a boys' adventure tale for the video-game age of decapitations and blood spurts."  One Guy's Opinion  Frank Swietek

1/5
"A bulked-up and dumbed-down 3-D screen version of the Old English epic that is aimed at the shiver-me and scare-me crowd."  Spirituality and Practice  Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

3/4
"Regardless of the medium, this is an effectively brutal story of swords, sorcery, demons, and heroes, with an Oedipal hint or two thrown in for flavor."  ReelViews  James Berardinelli

2/5
"We are the point of technological nirvana in which it makes sense to someone somewhere to use millions of dollars in money and thousands of hours of labor to digitally recreate that which an old-fashioned (dare I say outdated?) technology already provides"  Q Network Film Desk  James Kendrick

"With their dead, unblinking eyes the characters look stoned; more heroine addicts than heroic archetypes."  Sci-Fi Movie Page  James O'Ehley

2/4
"Some are calling Beowulf the future of movies, but it would be a lot easier to swallow that hype if ... anything in the movie suggested the people who made Beowulf were invested in making something good instead of just interested in making something new."  Cinematical  James Rocchi

7/10
"Click here to read review"  Kinoblog.com  Jaroslav Vishtaljuk

7/10
"Why take the time to draw or render characters if you're just going to try to make them look real? ... Yet, despite my broken-record misgivings, I confess to enjoying Beowulf."  Window to the Movies  Jeffrey Chen

2/4
"21st century technology leaves this Robert Zemeckis adaptation of the old English epic poem sadly lacking in poetry."  Big Picture Big Sound  Joe Lozito

5/10
"Beyond the admittedly glorious CGI graphics, the story of Beowulf itself seems rather empty."  DVDTown.com  John J. Puccio

3.5/5
"arkoyntos atmosfairikos kai epikos, me mia goiteytiki isorropia paramythioy kai gotthikoy ksekoiliasmatos gyro ap' tin eypepti alligoriki proseggisi toy thelktikoy tis eksoysias kai toy bromikoy tis ysterofimias"  Movies for the Masses  Joseph Proimakis

4/5
"Looks like the world's longest cut scene but neither as good nor as bad as it could have been. Demands the 3D large screen to be seen."  Cinerina  Karina Montgomery

3.0/4.0
"... a real-life Dungeons & Dragons story brought to life... While not quite as epic as 300, it's still one hell of a good ride."  MovieCrypt.com  Kevin A. Ranson

3.5/5
"if it's worth seeing in the theaters, it's worth finding one that's screening it in 3D"  Film School Rejects  Kevin Carr

4/4
"Zemeckis, you magnificent bastard! This is one of the best times I've ever had at the movies."  Montreal Film Journal  Kevin N. Laforest

B-
"Gaiman and Avery deserve credit for making the Beowulf poem come full circle, but it is not the cinematic knockout I was hoping for."  Reeling Reviews  Laura Clifford

2/4
"The trouble is that the film's look trumps all."  TV Guide's Movie Guide  Maitland McDonagh

3/4
"A visually rousing epic and a surprisingly effective reworking of a classic."  Mark Reviews Movies  Mark Dujsik

8/10
"The oldest story in the English language (dating from about AD 700) combines with state of the art graphic technology to create a fast-paced and exhilarating heroic adventure."  rec.arts.movies.reviews  Mark R. Leeper

"[S]terile, synthetic, almost completely unengaging on a human level. It's animated but inanimate."  Flick Filosopher  MaryAnn Johanson

2.5/5
"How can a film based on such a classic piece of literature, with the cache of talent behind it, be so drab?"  Bronsonfive  Michael Ferraro

3.5/4
"Director Robert Zemeckis has created a computer-animated movie is that exciting, funny, sexy, and thrilling. A genuinely cool moviegoing event."  Aisle Seat  Mike McGranaghan

B
"One of the oldest surviving stories is retold through one of the most modern of technologies in a thrilling 3-D adventure from director Robert Zemeckis."  Beliefnet  Nell Minow

2/4
"Sexualized to the point of absurdity."  Slant Magazine  Nick Schager

3/5
"Vale mais pela experiência visual que representa do que pela história que conta."  Cinema em Cena  Pablo Villaca

4/5
"When the film is allowed to cut free from recreating reality, most obviously in its depiction of Grendel, the results are terrifying to behold and will most likely serve as nightmare fuel for viewers of all ages for a long time to come."  eFilmCritic.com  Peter Sobczynski

3.5/5
"The epic poem is brought entertainingly to life by an extremely gifted cast and crew. Although the motion-capture animation style leaves us with a couple of big questions. Mainly, 'Why?'"  Shadows on the Wall  Rich Cline

3/5
"This Beowulf can be awfully pretty, but it's untouched by human hands."  eFilmCritic.com  Rob Gonsalves

C+
"The plasticine puppetry of the central figures still lacks that essential spark required to bring them to life."  Flipside Movie Emporium  Rob Vaux

B
"The best thing about this movie is that it makes an ancient story into something that is a lot more accessible to most people."  Laramie Movie Scope  Robert Roten

"Robert Zemeckis' take on Beowulf is a marvel visually but eye-popping effects are still no challenge for good old-fashioned human emotion."  Movie Views  Ryan Cracknell

4.5/5
"Stands as an unapologetically enthusiastic marriage between old-school heroism and modern-day wizardry. Plus it kicks ass!"  Cinematical  Scott Weinberg

"Beowulf is ambitious, overbearing and hollow; it goes overboard to impress, yet it never feels truly inventive or imaginative."  Salon.com  Stephanie Zacharek

3/10
"This is what happens when directors with lots of money and powerful computers get all hot and bothered about the latest new toys."  Antagony & Ecstasy  Tim Brayton
OFCS Rating: 56% Rotten
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