Why use CGI if you want your actors in the movie?
A few moments ago I saw the trailer for Beowulf, the new film by Robert Zemeckis, for the first time. While watching it, I couldn’t pay attention to the plot of the movie itself. Instead, I couldn’t help but lock onto the type of film they decided on making. Strangely they’ve decided to make a computer animated film.
Now there are plenty of computer animated films out there where the films simply couldn’t be done outside of CGI, but why would you animate a film that should be, and which it appears you intended to emulate, live action. I can’t understand for the life of me why Robert Zemeckis is making this film animated when he clearly wants the actors on screen as, or at least looking like, themselves.
My first reaction as I watched the trailer was, “wow, how life like. these are amazing representations of the voice actors”. But in no time at all, as I watched the awkward and unnatural motions of the CGI characters, my amazement began to fall to disappointment. It would be one thing if the characters were actually caricatures of the voice actors, but this is ridiculous. For the sake of all things tantalizing, if you’re going to attempt to entice me by placing the all too beautiful Angelina Jolie on the screen, then do it. I don’t want to see some semi-lifelike representation of her.
I tried looking at it from a pro CGI view, but I still can’t seem to justify the decision. Looking at epic movies like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, 300, SinCity, and even going back to The Matrix Trilogy, there literally is nothing that you cannot convey in a live action movie.
posted by Christopher Schnese
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