Although Max‘s lineup of movies doesn’t seem to be as plentiful as it used to be, it still has a very good selection of films spanning the dawn of cinema to the present. More importantly, Max isn’t limited to the Warner Bros. Pictures catalog, and there are some films from other studios. In fact, all three of this month’s choices for the three underrated movies on Max that you need to watch in July come from Universal or Sony.
Our first selection is one of the most adult-oriented American animated films to date, while the second was supposed to be the start of a franchise. Our final selection is a claustrophobic thriller that really deserves to find a new audience two decades after its release.
Beowulf (2007)
Beowulf is one of the oldest heroes in English literature, and the 2007 animated film breathes new life into the legend thanks to a modernized script by Sandman creator Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary that establishes a strong link between Beowulf’s story as a young man and an epic battle much later in his life. Director Robert Zemeckis utilized nearly lifelike animation that’s very convincing at times.
Ray Winstone lends his voice and likeness to Beowulf, a warrior who is summoned to Denmark during the early years of the 6th century. King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins) wants Beowulf to slay the monster Grendel (Crispin Glover), who has been terrorizing his kingdom. However, the real threat is Grendel’s mother (Angelina Jolie), who can’t simply be defeated. She has long-term plans that not even Beowulf can defy.
Watch Beowulf on Max.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
For reasons that are difficult to understand, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo didn’t catch on in America like it did in Europe. In Sweden, all three of the original novels were turned into films, while David Fincher’s remake was the only American film based on any of the books (in this case, the first). The titular girl is Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), an extremely fierce woman with a gift for hacking her way into anything.
James Bond actor Daniel Craig portrays Mikael Blomkvist, a disgraced journalist who recruits Lisbeth to help him solve a 40-year-old cold case. Someone in the Vanger family has been killing women for decades. But as Lisbeth and Mikael close in on the answers, the killer begins targeting them as well.
Watch The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on Max.
Panic Room (2002)
By sheer coincidence, our third underrated movie on Max is also a David Fincher movie. Panic Room features Jodie Foster and a very young Kristen Stewart as Meg and Sarah Altman, the new renters of a home that has a high-tech panic room. And wouldn’t you know it, but the mother and daughter have to use the panic room on their first night. They also retreat so quickly that they accidentally leave Sarah’s diabetes medicine behind.
Unfortunately for the Altmans, the thieves — Junior (Jared Leto), Raoul (Dwight Yoakam), and Burnham (Forest Whitaker) — broke into their home specifically to get something in the panic room. As Sarah suffers from her diabetic symptoms, the crooks cut off the Altmans’ contact with the outside world and attempt to force them out of their hiding place.
Watch Panic Room on Max.