by Mj Ferruzza

Created on: November 28, 2007

Angelina Jolie is more Lara Croft than Angelina Jolie in Beowulf.
When Angelina Jolie took the role of video vixen and mercenary
Lara Croft, she had to train for months and keep in shape and
let padding and special effects do the rest. Tomb Raider and its
sequel showed Angelina's strength as a live action movie star.
Beowulf did the opposite. It turned her into a video game-esque

character. Definitely not rated E for Everyone, Beowulf used
Angelina Jolie as an eye tantalizing screen siren and serpent.
How can you judge her talent as an actress based on this pseudo
cartoon/ animated film? It would be like trying to assess the work
of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz or Eddie Murphy in the Shrek features.
They are fine talent in their own right, but like Jolie their acting
can only be judged by their voice work.
Visually stunning and recorded with effect, she has never looked
or sounded better. It was a daring project for her, if not just for
its titillation. She comes off more sinister and than other screen sirens,
like Michelle Pfieffer in Sinbad, who have taken on dark character roles
for an animated picture. But like any animation, the director, animators
and editor will define a performance.
Angelina Jolie has matured into a fine actress over the years. Beowulf
may have been a stab at personifying her beauty and just touching on
her true skills as an actress.
I believe that Angelina Jolie could have given a comparable performance
in a live action version of this high quality animated feature. But
that may never be known. She might have turned down such a project that
called for so much alluded nudity and bareness.
She was the perfect villian for that part. But it may have spoken
volumes for her as an actress to have played the character both live in
body and voice.

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