Sidewalks On The Corner

It is considered one of the oldest pieces of literature in the English language, and it still lives on to this day. "BEOWULF" is an age old poem brought to the silver screen in 3-D IMAX form by award winning producer / director Robert Zemeckis (“Back to the Future” Trilogy and “Monster House”) and award winning writers Neil Gaiman (“Stardust”) and Roger Avary (“Pulp Fiction”).

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The story takes place in Denmark in the year 507 A.D., where a mighty warrior named Beowulf (voiced by Ray Winstone) is called upon by King Hrothgar of Denmark to destroy a hideous and powerful demon named Grendel (voiced by Crispin Glover), who has been terrorizing the town for many years. King Hrothgar (voiced by Anthony Hopkins) was once a brave and boastful warrior such as Beowulf, but he is getting older and is unable to defeat the beast on his own. Additionally, he has no army to help. The brash warrior accepts the challenge and makes a promise to the King and all his people that he will kill the beast, while in the process secretly trying to win the affections of a the King's wife, Queen Wealhtheow (voiced of Robin Wright-Penn). After a battle with Grendel, Beowulf is triumphant at killing the horrid beast, but unbeknownst to Beowulf, the wrath of Grendel's mother (voiced of Angelina Jolie) will reign on all. The ruthless and seductive demon mother wants revenge for the death of her son and she will stop at nothing to make Beowulf pay.

The storyline is one we've all heard before, and it's one that has been emulated for years. If you remember the bedtime stories or fairytales of your childhood, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Those stories with a knight in shining armor who sleighs the dragon to win the love of a princess or a warrior prince who goes on a manhunt for a beast in the wilderness. These kinds of storylines produce instant heroes. However, in Beowulf's case, he is brave and mighty, yet flawed. Stories like this almost never grow old. The interesting thing about Beowulf is not only the story itself; it's the way the story is presented this time around.

The thousand year old poem is basically a vehicle for trying out innovative and somewhat new ideas in the process of filmmaking, similar to how "Transformers" was created. In 2004, Robert Zemeckis created something truly revolutionary for the cinematic world. Using technology he created called motion-capture, Zemeckis presented the film "The Polar Express.” Zemeckis combined his patent technique of motion-capture with the 3-D and IMAX formats for “Beowulf,” resulting in an eye-popping experience. You're not just watching a movie on a giant screen you're actually immersed in the action.

Many people may feel that it's a crime to use such a technique (such as motion-capture); they may also feel that Zemeckis is trying to do away with traditional actors. In my opinion, it's no different than the animated films that Pixar churns out ever so often. Also, I feel that this film was presented in the traditional way of filmmaking with actors and sets and far away locations, I don't think it would gain the amount of attention it's getting so far. Over all the actors behind the voices portrayed their characters effortlessly. Their voices were strong and forceful and struck a nerve with the audience. The animated action sequences were fierce, with plenty of hard hitting battle scenes and mythical creatures. There are even comical scenes where various objects and people standing in strategic places cover Beowulf's naked loins. And the story (although old fashion) is still interesting enough to keep the viewers bolted to their seats. Beowulf may not be embraced for its content, but it will be hailed for how it was created. It's a lot of fun in IMAX 3-D.