Yes, the whole movie is done in CG. It's the same technology that was used in the Polar Express movie that came out a couple of years back, so that the characters have the same facial traits of the actors doing the voices in most cases.

That's what weirded me out--it looked like them, and yet they didn't move right.

I guess I'm disappointed. I was hoping for a really good adaptation of Beowulf. The only good "Beowulf" movie I've ever seen is "The Thirteenth Warrior"...and that was a round about version.

Anyway--the thing that I'm not happy about is how fakey it looks. It looks like a mediocre video game.

You liked the thirteenth warrior? I mean, its fun, but nothing close to the original story. I've been looking forward to this adaptation for a long time. Neil Gaiman (creator of the sandman and author of a many great thing) wrote the screenplay.

This adaptation doesn't look like it's going to follow the original story all that closely either.

13th Warrior was done under the premise of "What if it was Real, how would it have actually happened in real life, given the right time period for the story." That is why the movie didn't seem to follow the legend, yet if you sit back and put it into a realistic context, it IS the story made flesh... As it were... Plus it was told from the point of view of the storyteller (Buliwyf being Beowulf himself).
Buliwyf: "I have only these hands. I will die a pauper."
King Hrothgar: "You will be buried as a king."
Buliwyf: "A man might be thought wealthy if someone were to draw the story of his deeds, that they may be remembered."
Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan: "Such a man might be thought wealthy indeed. "
And thus, the story of Beowulf is written. I enjoyed it quite a lot personally.

I read "Eaters of the Dead" a long time before the movie was thought of, and I really liked it. But, it IS a fairly loose version of the Beowulf story--I always thought the "bad guys" were supposed to be a "lost" tribe of Neanderthal... Maybe I was just reading my own desires into the story--I thought that would be cool!

Hmmm... *nods* I probably need to go back and reread the original story again. I still enjoyed it though. *smiles*

At first I was a bit wierded out about Antonio Banderas being in a "Norse" movie, wondering wtf he could be doing in it? But once I saw HOW they put him in there, it made sense. It's still a good movie though, regardless of how close to the original Beowulf legend it is or not.

That gives me some hope...I like Neil Gaiman. But after seeing the trailers, I have a feeling it's going to tank.

Can you say uncanny valley? I thought we weren't going to do anymore of those. Movies like The Incredibles and Ratatouille taught us that C.G.I. looks best all cartoony, realistic just looks wrong.

As much as I liked the original Beowulf story, this movie seems to be another flop in the making.

Yes, it is al CGI. Looks like Robert Zemeckis didn't learned from the flop Polar Express was.

Wait, another Beowulf movie? Have they done the story justice, ever?

I'm so glad I threw out my TV.

hrmm... Sun Sammich (TM)?

Nope, Nuke Nosh!

I'm so glad I threw out my TV.

Good for you! I know I should do that, but I love movies and the three shows that I watch on a regular basis. There was a time that I didn't watch any tv, but every once in awhile you just have to watch something brainless to unwind.

I'm still a slave to the media, no worries. I get my programming online or through friends mostly. But it is much more filtered than the average television viewer.

I do miss Good Eats and the discovery channel though.

Discovery channel is win. Mythbusters is probably my favorite show on TV at the moment.

I'll be honest: I'm not really a big fan of super realistic animated humans (as main and constant characters). What is the point? It is FAR cheaper, less time consuming, and holistically more efficient to use real humans. And CG humans just look... sterile or something, well, to me anyway... But to each his own I guess. It is just a matter of preference on my part.

BTW, Polar Express was actually pretty popular and did very well at the box office... for some inexplicable reason. The animators of Polar Express utilized motion capture technology, which is fine, but they did not tweek the mocap at all (which is not fine). This led to stiff movement and unrealistic acting. Yuck, in my opinion, very much.

I agree--I think that we're not quite ready for this kind of movie yet. The animation just looks wrong. You can get away with it (usually) in action sequences or distant shots...but up close, with human faces...nope. Also remember the fiasco that was "Final Fantasy: Spirits Within" --and it looked better as far as I can tell at this point!

Wait 5 - 10 more years.

CGI is getting very close to photo realism when it comes to movies. There are some brilliant photo real shots in the trailer, while other scenes it just falls apart.

Maybe THEY should've waited 5-10 more years...

i agree too much cg is weard...if you want to go together and see it some time let me know ^^.

Probably not till it's out on DVD...which will likely be shprtly after it comes out in theaters!

My biggest issue is that the characters just look too much like their real-life counterparts? I don't see the point... why not just shoot live-action instead?

But I'm going to go see it anyway.

We were just discussing that at our house the other night as well.

I wish it wasn't cgi. ;/
I just hope they don't screw over the book.

I can see from the commercials that it completely fucks the book with a big wrought-iron dildo!

Wow, so the whole thing is CGI! They didn't do a good job at it then. I would expect these kind of graphics from a Sci-Fi Channel movie, but not a big movie studio.

Plus, I don't think that the book can effectively be done as a movie as there are multiple layers that can only be found by searching through the story.

I had noticed the same thing. It just rubs me the wrong way with it looking like that.

I was in a paid focus group a month or 2 ago and we saw multiple trailers for "Beowulf". There were some that were just horrible, trying to tack on to the success of "300" (Beowulf saying, "I... AM... BEOWULF!"), and some that showed off the dragon and such.

I think it will do okay if one is into dragons, Angelina Jolie, and/or have read the book.

I don't recall Grendel's mother being hot...or mystical...or even chatty. And I don't recall anything about her trying to tempt Beowulf to join her. I seem to remember her looking alot like Grendel and Beowulf having to use a handy enchanted sword to pierce her thick, noxious hide...

So, yeah, I'd say they've taken a few liberties--and you're right, I have noticed a marked similarity to 300 action sequences in the trailer...except that 300 looked...good.

*snugs*

*boomerang snugs!* ^0^

i really hope they stay true to the story, i remember a friend telling me about beowulf in full CGI and i was excited, i haven't seen the commercial(s)

me personally im big on CG... id rather have it totally CG and not uber realistic than have it live action with CG moments.. as i can spot them easily

im looking forward to this movie... however i dont know how closely it will be to the origional (have to go read it again.. havent read it since 6th grade)

-JM

The problem here is that it doesn't look real enough to be realistic, and it doesn't look stylized enough to look good...it just looks like a video game. It just bugs me for some reason.

im still gonna go see i... ill reserve my love or hatred after i have seen it

oooh.. also.. i really like 13 warrior... also... the movie "predator" was based on the story of beowulf.. more specifically the part of grendel

Interesting--i didn't know that about Predator, although it makes sense now you mention it.

*reads other posts*

Ah. Now, I knew all the monsters were CGI. Here I was just thinking it was real actors touched up with CGI everything else, ala 300 and the like.

Well that's a bit disappointing though. Still, it might be passable but from the previews it looks pretty much like they chunked in too much hollywood.

Then again it isn't as if we have the full Beowulf story anyway. That's lost to the ages.

If they'd have gone the "Incredibles" route, that might've worked. Creating stylized, yet dramatic and cool looking characters...maybe they should've hired Mike Mignola to design the characters. Then it could have had big name cast-members, state of the art CGI graphics and been an amazing film...but instead it's gonna tank! At least, I think it probably will. The video game will probably be excellent. ;)

The human actors and actresses were mapped over in CGI. Personally I don't like the look of it at all. It looks remarkably juvenile.

the trailer reminds me of the Shrek movies

Well, that should tell you a lot right there!

I've heard things outside of the commercials....I don't believe it will be a flop at all. This is supposedly the opus of the company (forgot the name) who is doing the movie. It's the same people who did Polar Express. They fixed a lot since then, apparently....i.e. making the eyes look more alive.

It's a CG movie, yes...but what would have been different if it was live action? Grendel would have been CG...the dragon would be CG...they'd CG the blood and the castles and countless other things...I think the renderings are beautiful and capture the actors' likenesses well.

The only thing that will ruin it for me is if Beowulf doesn't die in the end.

I don't get why so many people are snubbing off this movie as juvenile...there is blood, there is death, and Grendel looks groaty as hell. Angelina Jolie's appearance is a disguise to hide her monster form when she speaks to Beowulf...

Bah...anyway...I'm giving it a chance.

Good for you! I'm just grumpy, cynical and biased. ^0^ Seriously--I could be totally wrong about it, but I'm bothered by what I've seen in the commercials...and usually, if I don't like the commercials, then the movie is even worse...but not always. I wasn't all that impressed by commercials for Raiders of the Lost Ark, back in the day--but it's still one of my top ten!

All I know is that parents will still take their kids to see it because it's a "cartoon"

I'm apprehensive about seeing it, myself.

i've caught a glimpse or two of the commercials and so far its pissing me off cause its putting things in that has nothing to do with Beowulf....but maybe im still stuck on The 13th Warrior...mmmm that was a good version of Beowulf

I thought the 13th warrior was an awesome movie and well as Beowulf and Grendel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf_and_Grendel

I have to respectfully disagree...I thought Beowulf & Grendel sorta sucked. I got it from the library one day because I wanted to see it...and regretted it.

You mean like star wars when EVERYTHING is CG?

No--I liked Star Wars BEFORE there was ANY CG!

Seriously though--I don't dislike CG at all. I think CG has been an amazing thing for the film industry, and I don't have a problem with entirely computer generated movies. I LOVED "The Incredibles" and "Finding Nemo", etc. The problem I'm having with this movie is that the characters look fake, because they are trying to look real, but don't quite make it. If they were more stylized, it wouldn't bother me.

Also--the CG wasn't the problem with the new Star Wars movies. The CG was excellent, for the most part. It was the story problems and the writing of some of the scenes that I had trouble with. *sigh* Alas, no CG effect can fix bad storytelling, no matter how good it is.

I dunno it was just the fact I could tell they were CG, and heck I liked the old movies too, actually even though I say I hate star wars the original trilogy was great =P.
Yeah it kinda suprised me about how god damned advanced they were compared to the original in the future trilogy lol, or how child like it was.. Or inaccurate, I mean god an army of robots, they aint gonna feel fear or paint that would be somethin pretty fricken freaky to go again especially since you lack squishie stuff as Accretiants on RF say D=.

I'm with Commontrixter. I don't remember fighting a giant fangly fish in the original stories. Nor do I remember Grendel's mother seducing Beowulf. But I suppose any movie with a female villain these days needs to have her naked and seducing the good guys or they won't reach their skank quota. I think Grendel's mother was cooler and a bit more believable when she was just beating the crap out of Beowulf to avenge her son. The unnecessary titillation scene just seems way too forced, and kinda cheap. I'm not giving up on it entirely, but I'm not entirely hopeful either. They better have him die in the end and make it clear that by attempting to steal the dragon's gold he has become a monster himself obsessed with power and fortune. That is, in a sense, one of the big themes in the story. The man fought bravely against monsters, but became one himself in the end, corrupted by greed, and paid with his life.

>>"They better have him die in the end and make it clear that by attempting to steal the dragon's gold he has become a monster himself obsessed with power and fortune. That is, in a sense, one of the big themes in the story. The man fought bravely against monsters, but became one himself in the end, corrupted by greed, and paid with his life."

That's probably an anachronistic reading of Beowulf. We might see it as greedy, but back then, for German tribes, gold earned and held was considered the measure of value of a person's life.

More likely, Beowulf just lacked practical wisdom (one of the four virtues), and while he was a good warrior, his excessive boldness, overconfidence, and maybe pride got the better of him (leading to the downfall of the Danes).

"Book"? =p

Anyway, I'll probably watch it anyway, knowing how Avary and Gaiman are so blatantly tongue-in-cheek about the whole thing. ^_^ Not much interesting stuff coming into Malaysia this few weeks.

The reason for that is it's a primarily 3D movie. IMAX and Digital 3D theatres only, as far as I know. Personally, I like the look of it, and it should turn out to be an interesting movie.

yeah, it's mostly all CG, there are some scenes with real hoomans tho, I think almost all of Jolie's scenes are her face and parts of her actual body lol :)

I only saw a small part of it, your right it does look all CG. I hope its not, cuz like you said it is all over used. Like 300 was good it was most CG but still they had people in it and it was done nicely.
Is it cheaper to use all CG or is it cheaper to use people, i cant remember, not like it is an excuse or anything.

Here the preview turned me off when I started watching, thinking it was another movie about Greeks or Romans, and then they were all like 'this is Beowulf and shit!" Then not a single God damned thing in the trailer looked anything like Beowulf. Not even a little. Hell, not even the fake sets.

I saw a commercial for the new Beowulf video game and was thinking how bad the graphics looked... when I suddenly realized it WASN'T the game. It was a commercial for the movie.