La leggenda di Beowulf

Beowulf (2007) is in my DVD collection and is also available on Netflix. The storyline is about Beowulf who arrives in a town plagued by a curse where a deity and her son ravage the land. When Beowulf fights the son and confronts the deity tough choices will be made that will determine his future and direction. This movie is directed by Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) and contains the voices of Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs), Angelina Jolie (Tomb Raider), Ray Winstone (The Departed), Crispin Glover (Willard), Robin Wright (The Princess Bride) and John Malkovich (In the Line of Fire). The storyline for this is very good and contains some fantastic twists and turns. The animation is out of this world and looks very much like the actors used for the voices. The cast is very well selected and fit the characters and storyline to perfection. The action scenes are absolutely amazing, especially the depiction of the creatures and sorcery. The kill scenes and gore is also remarkable. The full circle of the storyline is excellent as is the absolute final scene. This is a bit underrated and is definitely a must see that I would score a 8.5/10.

In the original epic poem, why does Beowulf come back from defeating Grendel's mother carrying Grendel's head? It's an interesting question that has fired literary critics imaginations for a while, and when Robert Zemeckis set out to make his big screen adaptation of the poem, he went beyond merely adapting the text itself. Instead, he took those questions that critics had considered and ran with them dramatically.

So, what we end up having isn't so much an adaptation of Beowulf, but an adaptation of a master's thesis on Beowulf.

The movie received mixed to positive reviews when it came out. A lot of the negativity seemed connected to the movie's visual style. Expanding what he had done on The Polar Express, Zemeckis used motion capture and computer animation to get realistic-ish looking characters. The problem is that the characters exact right in the middle of the Uncanny Valley. They are too real to treat as cartoons, but not real enough to convince the mind that they are real, so there's a natural barrier that's created because the brain knows it's not real despite a somewhat realistic looking appearance. I was more okay with the look of the film upon its initial release, but less so now.

I understand, though, why Zemeckis was enamored with the technique. The freedom as a filmmaker to build the environments he wanted and place the camera wherever he wanted must have been quite enticing. The problem was the effort at getting photo-realistic effects, which end up falling short. A more cartoonish look might have been less jarring for the audience.

Moving on, though, the movie's approach to the material, as implied, is really smart. It's not just a monster movie, but an exploration of bravery, heroism, and the costs of power. It takes a different approach than the original poem, but that's fine by me. The seduction of power, and the literal seduction of Grendel's mother, is an interesting approach to take, and I think it works really well. Beowulf must sell his soul to achieve power, but when the bill comes due he doesn't lay down like Hrothgar did. He fights. He reclaims his honor and sense of bravery by having a spectacle infused fight with a dragon. It's a sop to modern movie convention, but it's still fun on its own while refusing to undermine the basic point of the story.

Performances, which you mainly need to judge by voices since the faces do have a plastic-like feel that they movie can't escape, are very good. I can see why Zemeckis wanted to cast Ray Winstone as Beowulf because he carries a gravelly voice that matches the vision of the character perfectly, but Winstone is, at the same time, not a body builder with 8 pack abs. Brendan Gleeson is wonderful as Wiglaf, the sad advisor, Anthony Hopkins is wise, sad, and guilt-ridden as Hrothgar, and Angelina Jolie is pure seduction as Grendel's mother. Special nod to Crispin Glover as Grendel, speaking Old English and evoking quite a bit of emotion as a monstrous creature with inside out ears.

It takes a while for your eyes to get used to the uncanny animation, but once you overcome the ordeal, Beowulf turns into an outrageously entertaining ride. The performances are solid, the visuals are unique, the score is uplifting, and it has great action sequences. It's really good fun for adults of all ages.

I have read Beowulf a couple of times. It's great northern European mythology, and mandatory reading when you are young in my opinion (Along with Norse, Greek and Roman Mythology as well). And though the movie wants to re-write some of the epic, you will need to separate the Hollywood version from the beautiful measure of the original works. Being a work of CGI, you will also have to allow for the flaws of pure CGI work. Very stylized and beautifully colored, it is an epic adventure that elevated Zemeckis' previous work "The Polar Express" to a new level. Polar was beautifully modeled after Chris Van Allsburg illustrations for his book, but Zemeckis' adaptation to the story went a little over the top when it became a musical. Even though most of Beowulf's story line is answered here, it did make me pause and wonder:

Why didn't Robert Zemeckis just direct this thing in real life instead of virtual?

With the capabilities of dropping in CGI into real life action, this telling of the story could have had so much more of an impact if the expressions were more poignant. Look what he did with "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"? Zemeckis is fully capable of it. Also, to add to this, when you have CGI characters like Jacksons Gollum and King Kong to compare notes with, the modeling here just isn't up to snuff. I felt the entire movie came off like a gigantic "cut-scene" to a video game than a full featured animated project. I can only give this a little better than a good, hence the exclamation. I do this sadly. You really should see this in a theater, bigger than life. The dragon is excellent, the ugly v/s the beautiful is wild, the sequencing is uneven, though at the end it takes you on a great ride. Oh, and for you people that want to go see Angela Jolie nekkid? IT'S CGI!!! I've seen harder stuff on Fox networks! Seeing my wife and I saw this as a matinée, the crowd was on the sparse side and there was literally no kids present. I couldn't get a solid feeling from the audience though most people as they left seemed genuinely happy with their experience. I'm sure it was PG13'd because of the sequences with Angela, otherwise it would be a solid PG. I wouldn't suggest this for a kid under 8.

When going into the theatre to see this I in two minds - it was my first 3D movie and I had heard good things, however I wasn't particularly taken by the concept or the trailers. I was unsure what to expect, however I ended up leaving the cinema extremely satisfied with the film, and tellingly, unable to stop discussing it long after the ride home.

Visually it is an absolute treat, Zemeckis uses 3D superbly, some of the camera angles and sequences are as great an art as the photo-realistic animation. Occasionally the odd shot appears where the impression is that it was set up solely to emphasise the 3D (e.g. starting at the end of a branch and panning out) and whilst this doesn't add to the film it is actually a pleasant reminder of the novelty of 3D.

There are only two areas that let Beowulf down aesthetically: the eyes and the mouth. The eyes were static throughout and it is the little details that make the difference when trying to make something as uber-realistic as this, such as the fact that the pupils didn't react to light. As for the lips - they're just not quite there yet - sometimes the speech didn't seem to be quite right.

The characters are expertly introduced and developed, most notably Anthony Hopkins character, Hrothgar and the tension between his wife. Grendell and his mother are wonderfully creepy and seductive, and bizarrely enough almost encourage sympathy.

For me the most disappointing part of the film was actually Ray Winstone as the titular character - he was fantastic when talking in a low growl, however the film really suffers when he shouts in full cockney accent. "I will kill your monstah!". I half expected Grendell's head to be smashed between a car and it's door. John Malkovitch is a saving grace with his none-more-sinister voice and interesting faith sub-plot.

The rating for this film has been hotly discussed and in my opinion I do not think it is suitable for children under the age of 12. Grendell would have truly terrified me as a child. The violence, as well as bawdiness, does not make it a family film for young children although having said that the lewd references do provide good humour and balances out the movie.

So, overall, this was worthy of an 8. Breathtaking animation, incredible action (especially the finale featuring an excellent dragon) and a generally brilliant cast. Beowulf throws down the gauntlet to film-makers to show what can be done with 3D and is an indication of the potential. It's not all the way there yet, but it's a damn good start.