Poor animation sucks life out of 'Beowulf'

"Beowulf" (director's cut) -- With "Beowulf," director Robert Zemeckis had it all: a great cast (Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie, Ray Winstone) and a great story (courtesy of Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary). Then he mucked it up by telling the story via this performance-capture animation he's obsessed with (he first attempted it in "The Polar Express"). What is the point of this process? The magic of animation is that it frees you from the constraints of the real world, allowing you to do and see things you wouldn't be able to otherwise. Performance-capture, on the other hand, is designed to make animation look just like real life. Why? It doesn't help that the technology hasn't been perfected, so the characters' movements in "Beowulf," a film that relies on fast-moving fight scenes, look choppy. Worse, the process deadens the eyes of the characters, rendering them creepy and robotic. It's too bad, because "Beowulf" could have been a swashbuckling classic. The story is lusty, bloody and gripping -- totally unlike the "Beowulf" I plodded through in high school. The actors provide some great moments, particularly Jolie, who plays the sexiest and scariest demon I've seen. Consider this flick a missed opportunity. The DVD boasts excellent picture and sound, as well as a slew of featurettes that explore just about every aspect of making the film. (NR; Paramount, $29.99)

"The Darjeeling Limited" -- Wes Anderson's latest is a wedding cake of a film: colorful, sweet, but not very nourishing. Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman and Adrien Brody play the slightly estranged Whitman brothers, who try to reconnect with each other on a long train ride through India. All three bring emotional baggage: Francis (Wilson) wears bandages on his head from a car crash that might have been intentional; Peter (Brody) can't decide whether he should divorce his pregnant wife; and Jack (Schwartzman) can't free himself from his obsession with his ex-girlfriend. As is usual for an Anderson film, "The Darjeeling Limited" looks fantastic -- bright yellows, tans and blues explode on screen -- and buzzes with quirky humor. But the world of the film is so mannered that Anderson's attempt to hit some real emotional notes near the end falls flat. The DVD includes a separate short film that serves as a valuable prologue. (R; Fox, $29.98)

"Justice League: The New Frontier" (two-disc special edition) -- Superhero fans drooled when they heard that animation guru Bruce Timm would produce an adaptation of Darwyn Cooke's acclaimed graphic novel, "New Frontier." Timm brought American animation out of its doldrums with 1992's moody, Emmy-winning "Batman: The Animated Series," and Cooke, a cartoonist with an endearingly retro style, is a star in the medium. Sadly, this straight-to-DVD film -- the latest in a line of original animated movies from DC Comics -- doesn't match up to Timm's work on "Batman" or any of his other series. Set in the early 1960s, the film tells the story of the formation of the Justice League of America, that group of superhero icons immortalized in comics and the old "Superfriends" cartoon from the 1970s and '80s. I liked the Cold War setting and the retro look of the characters (Superman's costume includes the dark "S" emblem that appeared in the old Fleischer cartoons of the '40s), but the movie feels rushed and overstuffed, probably because screenwriter Stan Berkowitz had to jettison huge chunks of Cooke's novel to fit the story into the film's 75-minute running time. The extras on this two-disc set, though, are fantastic. They include two commentaries, a look at the history of the Justice League and three full episodes from Timm's vastly superior Justice League TV show. "The New Frontier," by the way, has a few moments of violence and mild profanity that might make it unsuitable for the youngest viewers. (PG-13; Warner Home Video, $24.98)

"Redacted" -- Inspired by true events, Brian De Palma's blistering indictment of the war in Iraq follows a group of U.S. soldiers stationed at a dangerous security checkpoint. De Palma tells the story via an assortment of "found" footage, including news clips, Internet videos and a video diary one soldier records on his digital camera. It's the most vital piece of work we've seen from this master filmmaker in years, brutal and thought-provoking. The DVD, which came out last week, includes behind-the-scenes footage and a photo gallery. (R; Magnolia Home Entertainment, $26.98)