When I came up with the joke for today’s comic, I thought it one of the most clever things I’d ever written. But I think something got lost in translation because I’m not sure I executed it at the level I was imagining it. I feel like I’m trying to find my sea legs after spending so much time on the Shia LaBeouf arc.

I saw Beowulf over the weekend and liked it. I’m kind of surprised at some of the reactions I’ve been reading online. Some people like and and some people really hate it. I have to admit that there is some pretty bad dialogue in the film and there are some shades of “THIS! IS! SPARTA!” in the delivery. But for the most, part I give it a pass simply because it kind of makes sense that people in the middle ages would kind of talk like idiots, right?

I saw the movie in Digital 3D which I wasn’t aware was even an option until a few hours before I went to see the film. I haven’t seen a 3D movie in years, so it was a real treat. The effects weren’t all that obnoxious, but there were a few you could tell were thrown in to tweak the audience. Obviously I don’t have the basis for comparison seeing it in a “standard” format, but I felt watching it in 3D really put me closer to the action and I felt like I was able to pick up much more detail in the animation that I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.

There’s lots I want to talk about with this film. Everything from the story to the performances to the rotoscoping technology behind the animation. But I’m sitting on my comments. Part of me wants to write a complete review for tomorrow and the other part knows that we’re probably going to talk this one to death on The Triple Feature tonight.

I guess if I was going to encapsulate Beowulf in a sound bite, I would say that my expectations were really low for the film because I was kind of offended by the concept that this motion capture stuff could be considered animation. I’m a traditionalist in that regard and part of me thinks that what Robert Zemekis is doing is a shortcut in the process.

On the other hand, I didn’t want to cast myself as a Luddite and as an animation fan in general, I owed it to myself to investigate this new technology.

The animation has problems, but you can tell they’ve made huge leaps forward since The Polar Express and now I’m kind of interested to see what’s next. My expectations were low and I think that’s why I ended up enjoying the film as much as I did.

Be sure to listen to The Triple Feature podcast tonight at 9:00 PM CST over at TalkShoe.com. I think all three of us have seen the film, so I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of crossfire. More than likely you’ll hear something you can attach yourself to, so check it out!

That’s it for now. See you tomorrow!