Beowulf

Total Film

Some leavening humour might have helped dispel the portentous, gloomy tone and energise the boring scenes of exposition that fill the yawning chasms between action set-pieces. You exit mildly diverted by the story and admiring the technique; if this is the future of film, though, we'll stick with the past...

Newshub

The technology really is very cool, and the freedom that comes with animation makes for a few great visual moments.

Pity that freedom didn't bring life to the unremarkable and pedestrian story, and its poorly scripted and delivered dialogue...

Film Threat

Certainly, modern interpretations should add their own spin to an ancient tale, but in the hands of director Robert Zemeckis, Beowulf becomes... silly...

Empire Magazine

It’s not a reinvention of the wheel, but in 3D this is an astonishing experience that borders on ‘must-see’, and raises the bar for what James Cameron is planning with Avatar. And you’ll be glad to know that the creepy dead eyes thing has been fixed...

Dominion Post

This is fast, furious and about as silly as a bum full of smarties. Its quite possible that the poems original authors would approve...

Christchurch Press

Apparently the animated movie improves with the addition of 3D, but in 2D, the original monster-killing yarn, full of swords, sorcery and the super-natural, has been rendered simultaneously impressive and dull. Beowulf aspires to follow in the footsteps of both 300 and Lord of the Rings but falls short of both. It's an average movie wrapped up in pretty technology...

BBC

Ground-breaking and technologically exciting it may be, but while Beowulf might be significant in the history of moving pictures, it is not a picture that will move you...