Ray Winstone in Beowulf: Body by pixel

Um ... we'll have what he's having.

The promo pix for Robert Zemeckis' upcoming CGI-animated film Beowulf show a buff, ab-stastic version of character actor Ray Winstone, but that's not at all what Winstone looks like in real life. The film employs motion capture animation similar to what Zemeckis used in his holiday film, The Polar Express.

The film isn't the only adaptation of the epic poem; last year a live action film starring Gerard Butler, Stellan Skarsgard and Sarah Polley, Beowulf and Grendel, made its way through indie theatres.

I find it interesting to compare the visuals between the two, between Butler's Beowulf -- covered in fur and armor -- and the newer, semi-animated version who wears only a pair of squarecut shorts into battle and could easily grace a Men's Fitness cover. Combine this with 300 and I'm wondering if we're seeing the beginning of a trend where ancient warriors are starting to be shown in a more objectifying -- or even homoerotic -- light.

I find the technology is fascinating as well. I remember plenty of people found The Polar Express' animation to be creepy (including comic book author and novelist Neil Gaiman, who co-wrote the script for Beowulf), but taking a look at the trailer, the animation looks a lot less artificial. Check out the trailer after the jump -- what do you think? Is the animation convincingly lifelike? Think in the future we'll all get to have a pixellated diet like Winstone?