I am Beowulf!

I just got back from seeing the new Robert Zemeckis film, Beowulf.  And I have to say, I was very pleased.  I’m a fan of anime and animated films in general, so I was excited to see how this would play out on the big screen.  I went in seeing this as both an English major and Video/Film major, so there was a lot to take in.  I was very skeptical at first, because all the trailers seemed to try and bill this as another 300.  If you go with that in mind, you won’t be disappointed, but you may just miss all this film has to offer. The story is almost as old as literature itself.  Beowulf is the definition of a hero in the classic tale.   He fights Grendel with his bare hands, and for nothing other than the fame and glory that comes with it.  He goes on to kill Grendel’s mother in the same fashion later.  He even lives to a ripe, old age as a king, to face a dragon in his final encounter.  I’ve read this story, in a number of different translations and so many times I’m kind of tired of it being part of the canon.  But I do enjoy the story.  I’ve analyzed it and done papers on it, so I went into the theater with a good number of questions on how the story would be represented.  I’ve heard the argument that Beowulf himself is a monster and that Grendel isn’t so much of a monster as he is depicted.  More like a victim really.  And I’ve studied the religious aspects: the combining of pagan ideals mixed with the new Christian thoughts that were arising at the time.  I’m not so sure I enjoyed this film’s take on the whole thing, but it was a good story nevertheless.  

POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW

The film starts just as the story starts, with the Hrothgar celebrating his new mead hall.  Drunken singing disturbs the sleeping Grendel and he descends upon the hall with a terrible, blood thirst.  The story of Grendel spreads throughout the world, asking for any heroes to come to the aid of Hrothgar, for wealth and glory.  And so, Beowulf heads to do what a hero does best.  We see, though, through flash backs and his demeanor that this isn’t the same Beowulf we’ve read about.  He seems more human.  Even standing much taller than his fellow Geats, Beowulf feels less impressive as an individual.  The original story starts off describing him as such a great warrior and in such detail, it’s hard to argue it.  From the tale he tells of the sea monsters and his swimming competition, it’s revealed that Beowulf might just be more of a legend.  A little discomforting but a welcome change.  He says it himself later in the film, that he is just a man; fallible.  The story stays relatively the same, with Beowulf ripping the limb from Grendel, which leads to his eventual death.  But during the fight, and after, the story takes a turn.  I don’t want to ruin it, but it’s a far departure from the canonized version we read in classes today.  The main point being, Beowulf isn’t such a strong or mythic man in the film.  Sure he’s brave, but he’s just a man. 

As far as the CGI motion capturing, there were some scenes (a good number of them) that it was hard to tell they were animated.  It was really a great looking film.  It gives a number of advantages over other films.  Hard to reach camera angles, great action sequences, and jaw dropping visuals are the main draws to the format.  I’m hesitant to say this is the future of film making though, because live action is here to stay.  But for a fantasy/sci-fi setting, there is much to be gained from this format.  I hope this is the first of many more adult oriented (read violent, bloody, awesome) CGI animated film to come.

The characters themselves were great too.  Anthony Hopkins shows through as Hrothgar, and he plays the role well.  Robin Wright Penn is good as Wealthow.  I was surprised at how much emotion you could see in her face through the motion capture.  Ray Winstone does a good job as Beowulf as well.  I know his physique was altered for the character, but the character was created to exactly how I’d always pictured Beowulf.  Unferth was played by John Malkovich and he was, for me, one of the best characters.  He was a little weird, but I’ve always pictured Unferth as a slimy character that he nailed.  As for Angelina Jolie, she was a bit distracting.  Because I’ve seen her so many times, I couldn’t help but compare how well they came to her actual face.  But the way her head sat on her body just looked a bit awkward.  I would’ve been happier had they given her different features or something.  I had a hard time suspending disbelief with her in the role, as basically herself painted in gold.  And last but not least, Grendel, played by Crispin Glover.  I love Crispin.  I kind of wish he would’ve been selected to play the Joker in the new Batman film.  But I’ll take him when I can get him.  Grendel was awesome.  He was huge and screamed a lot.  He wasn’t how I actually envisioned him.  I always thought of Grendel as more of a beast looking creature, but this Crispin troll version was a welcome difference.  It gave him just enough human qualities for the audience to make that connection. 

If you’re a fan of the story, I urge to go see this.  If you want to see an entertaining action movie, a la 300, you will probably enjoy this.  And if you want to see some of the possibilities that CGI has to offer the world of film, you should see this movie.  My only regret is that I didn’t get to see this in 3d.