Beowulf

When I first saw the trailer to Beowulf, I thought it was a live action movie. This is the best modeled full 3-D animated movie I've ever seen! The characters were very realistic and detailed, right down to individual facial hairs. For the most part, the movement was realistic. They did get lazy on a few characters and some cloth textures though. The main thing I was curious about was how they would make a short epic poem into a 2 hour movie. The action sequences were pretty long and they also spent time developing the characters. On top of everything, they connected the characters a little more than the original. It's definitely a little weird because of the love triangle(s), but I suppose they did it for continuity. But if you subtract the sex from this movie, it's pretty faithful to the original... same characters, same events (even the little things), same basic messages, etc. The music was great as well. It felt like a modern version of the 8th century drum beats that would go along with the readings/performances.

My only complaint is the excessive nudity. There's just way too much and very unnecessary. Beowulf in the poem fights Grendel in hand-to-hand combat, but the movie takes it a bit further and has him strip down all the way. They probably did that so it could have the same statement as the Greek statues of idealism, but why would someone want to battle a dangerous monster with his jewels exposed. He could've at least left his underwear on or a coconut. The camera angles were very clever though... his privates were always hidden by some object or shadow. That must've been a challenge for the animators.

Related Links: Official Site; Wikipedia