Beowulf in 3D

So, I saw Beowulf recently, the new 3D movie.  I was actually surprised with what I saw.  I was expecting a decent film with sub-par animation.  What I got was the best Beowulf film I have seen.  I think the visuals were great.  I saw the film in RealD, which probably helps sway my opinion a little.  I really think that the creators were conscious of the fact that this film would be seen in RealD, because there were many shots that seemed to utilize the RealD effect so well.  I do not want to give anything away, but there are many uses for the RealD glasses in the opening sequence, as well as being utilized through the rest of the movie.  Anyway, back to the movie and not the outside effects.  I thought the story-line was pretty good.  I found it entertaining and more engaging than any Beowulf movie I have seen.  The animated appearance of the film really emphasized the fantasy, fairy-tale like qualities of the story.  I think that this story must be a difficult one to translate to film due to the lack of emotion incorporated in the story.  It focuses so much on Beowulf as an epic “manly-man” that the “weaker” human emotions get lost and that is why it fails to entirely connect with the audience.  Its like a rush of testosterone without using the brain to analyze and feel what is going on.  Although there were some small story issues that I had with it, I attribute the biggest flaw to the animation. This is really dissapointing considering that I am an animator.  I think that this film fell short where many other mo-cap films have before it.  It is as though they rely so heavily on mo-cap, that they do not spend the time to have animators hand keyframe to bring the animation into a crisp form.  Heavy use of mo-cap has in the past and continues to create a floaty, bland movement.  Now, please do not take what I have said and think that the animation is horrible, because its not horrible.  Its just not to the quality that I hope for when watching a feature film.  I guess its because I compare it to the animation done by places like Pixar.  The movie as a whole is one I will be adding to my personal collection though.  It will go right alongside Final Fantasy – Spirits Within.  I think that Beowulf shows where we are as far as making cg very realistic, but it also shows how far we still need to go.  I suggest this film to anyone.  It was entertaining and fun.