An underrated $150 million A-list fantasy flop that tried and failed to usher in a cinematic revolution slays the beast on streaming

As much as you’ve got to admire Robert Zemeckis for refusing to rest on his laurels when he made a bold if ill-judged attempt to change the course of cinema forever, it would be fair to say that his dead-eyed experimental trio of The Polar Express, Beowulf, and A Christmas Carol failed miserably in their attempts to convince the world that performance capture was the way forward.

Of course, the technology has become a key part of modern-day blockbusters when it comes to creating fully-digital characters, but using it as the basis for entire features was largely abandoned long ago, which is bad news for anyone still hoping Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson will ever get around to those Tintin sequels.

In its defense, Beouwulf was pretty solid and packed to the rafters with impressively-orchestrated action sequences, even if the concept of Ray Winstone’s voice emanating from a supremely jacked warrior never got any less disconcerting. It was a massive flop, though, with the $150 million blockbuster failing to turn a profit despite the best efforts of an insanely talented cast that also featured Angelina Jolie, Crispin Glover, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Robin Wright, and Brendan Gleeson.

A noble failure might be the best way to describe Beowulf, then, but swords and sorcery always have a funny habit of popping back up in the most unexpected of places on streaming. To that end, Zemeckis’ ambitious-if-misguided fantastical folly has reemerged as one of the most-watched titles on Paramount Plus per FlixPatrol, and there are most definitely worse ways to spend your time.