Beowulf & Grendel: Despite the many flaws in Sturla Gunnarsson’s latest, the critics heaped praise on at least one thing – the stunning visuals.

The medieval adventure, shot in Iceland with DOP Jan Kiesser (Rare Birds), is a ‘magnificent film to watch – thanks to the majestic visuals and the captivating scenery,’ says the Vancouver Sun’s Katherine Monk, ‘but it fails to satisfy emotionally.’

The ancient poem has been ‘plausibly retrofitted’ but lacks the ‘savage bite that might have given the sixth century-set tale real impact,’ complains Todd McCarthy in Variety, while The Globe and Mail’s Liam Lacey warns that ‘the accumulated missteps flip the entire movie over into Monty Python-ish silliness.’

Jim Slotek of the Toronto Sun also faults the script by Andrew Rai Berzins, but says the film is ‘by turns stark, ludicrous and fascinating.’

Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey: Sam Dunn’s headbanging think piece is a lot like heavy metal itself. You either like it or you don’t.

The doc follows the Victoria native as he investigates why his beloved music gets such a bum rap, and ‘the result is a fascinating, sometimes hilarious portrait of an earnest culture,’ says Brian D. Johnson of Maclean’s, made with ‘an insider’s passion and an anthropologist’s eye.’

Dunn codirected with Scot McFadyen and Jessica Joy Wise and together they ‘created a film that manages to be informative, funny, respectful, goofy and even a little scary,’ writes the Montreal Gazette’s John Griffin.

‘A smart account of a music form all too often dismissed as stupid,’ adds Geoff Pevere at The Toronto Star.

But closer to home, Michael Kissinger of the Vancouver Courier argues that Dunn ‘could have benefited from more of an outsider’s perspective, or at least, a dose of humour and irreverence.’

The film is ‘not hugely different than watching a MuchMusic special,’ agrees The Globe and Mail’s Liam Lacey. ‘Too often, the anthropologist in the film nods off while the unabashed fan takes over.’

Spymate: The critics are all saying the same thing about Keystone Entertainment’s chimp-as-spy movie – really bad.

‘So inept that it harkens back to the bad-old-days of dentist-film-producers looking for tax writeoffs,’ says Jim Stolek of the Toronto Sun, adding that after about seven minutes even ‘younger children will be climbing the walls.’

Director Robert Vince’s latest – following in the tracks of Air Bud and MVP: Most Valuable Primate – has been sitting on the shelf since 2003 and ‘has all the marks of a straight-to-video product,’ writes Alison Gillmor of the Winnipeg Free Press. ‘The effects are amateurish, the script is silly, and the performances are mostly atrocious.’

‘The deeper mystery is how Spymate… got to the theatre,’ says the Ottawa Citizen’s Jay Stone, adding that the children in the theater were so quiet ‘you kind of wondered if some of them hadn’t nodded off.’

Compiled by Sarah Marchildon