... They have this radical new technology. It's kind of like the motion-capture you used first in Polar Express, and now in Beowulf, in that you start out by filming actual live human actors. Only get this: You don't have to put them in "standard-issue bodysuits covered head-to-toe in tiny sensors"; you can just put them in costume. And you don't have to take their captured movements and place them into a computer-generated scene; you can just build a set and film them moving around in it. And best of all, your actors don't end up looking like characters in a video game, or a mediocre computer-animated kids movie - they look like (I know, this is hard to believe) real people. They call this cutting-edge, newer-than-new technology "live-action." Think about it.
Look, I can understand the appeal of motion-capture. It's done wonders for creating fantastic CGI creatures, from Gollum to King Kong, and at some point - maybe some point soon - it will give directors tremendous flexibility in how and what they film. And obviously, somebody has to be a pioneer and make films filled with glossy-looking, zombie-ish motion-captured characters (like, well, Polar Express) so that others can make better ones later.
But I want to see a good Beowulf movie, dammit, not one that's a technical leap forward but still looks, in its trailer at least, more like a high-end video game than any Old English epic ought to.
If you want to see a "good Beowulf movie", try Beowulf and Grendel. With the exception of Sarah Polley's jarring Canadian accent, it is excellent.
Posted by JeremyB | July 26, 2007 10:23 AM