Beowulf
Do you remember the dusty, drawn out, olde English Edda of Beowulf? If you answered yes, then you might want to leave the room. Those of you still with me may have turned a curious eye at the in-your-face 3-D computer animated blockbuster of the same name that stormed multiplexes in November of 2007, before promptly turning away. But I say onto thee, look closer; it's more than a desperate industry gimmick. The cracking script packs a surprising amount of depth, too. The movie, like its titular protagonist, proclaims itself loudly and boldly to audiences, and smoothly moves from humor to action to pathos without ever diluting the weightiness of its main themes. The wonder of it all is how engrossing it is from start to finish.
The story starts off with the Danish king, Hrothgar, and his lovely queen, Wealthow (played by Anthony Hopkins and Robin Wright Penn respectively) in the midst of a drunken reverie in a mead hall. The scene simmers with subtext as the audience is shown Queen Wealthow's distaste over the affair, particularly her drunken husband. This is intercut between the activities of some of the other attendees in a way that quickly pulls the viewer into this world. For instance, viewers see some of the casual cruelty of the period as the King's aid, Unferth (John Malkovich), beats his unfortunate squire for spilling a cup of mead he was carrying for the King. The humor of this moment is ironic since the act of beating the squire only makes him spill even more than he had up to that point. I was impressed that the set-up for the story could be so nuanced and engaging. Moments like these, along with the grit of the locations and the earthy spirit of its characters — like the way the demons speak Old English… sans subtitles — are perfect, and make the whole thing utterly absorbing.
So, other than Wealthow, everyone is having a blast until the monster, Grendel, storms in to stop the merrymaking. You see, he's got terribly sensitive hearing, and he just can't stand the noise. Grendel, played to perfection by Crispin Glover, is quite a sight to behold, and I'm grateful I had the good sense to keep from eating when I saw this movie because watching him is a gut-wrenching experience on several levels. First off, the guy is the very definition of hideous. He stomps and clomps and drips in ways that are both beautiful (from an artistic and visual effects point of view) and nauseating. As I said, he drips, and he does so in a way that almost made me miss the disgusting globule of drool that hung from the mouth of the rancor beast in Return of the Jedi. Secondly, is that when viewers first get a glimpse of Grendel, he's in the midst of tearing off a narrow chunk of his own flesh as he writhes in agony. This is one messed up monster, and from a purely practical point of view, it's a wonder the guy can even move at all, because he looks ready to burst out of his skin. Whatever Grendel's been through, it clearly wasn't pleasant, though he dishes the pain just as much as he's taken it. The revellers, stunned by his arrival, scramble to fend him off, only to fail in a spectacle of dismemberment. Despite the unbelievable and misleading PG-13 rating, this movie is R in more than just spirit.
After the grizzly battle, Grendel leaves, and the King offers a reward to any who can slay the beast. Cut to Beowulf (Ray Winstone) and his band of warriors sailing storm-swept seas toward Heorot, where most of the movie takes place. I was instantly hit by just how charmingly boastful Beowulf was following his introduction, especially when he describes a swimming race he lost due to an impromptu battle with sea monsters. A race, I might add, that foreshadows things to come. Once Beowulf dispatches Grendel — buck naked, in a display of supremely mad machismo (more on that later), only then does his true struggle begin. You see the themes of Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf revolve around hubris, especially the chest thumping, male variety, and our hero has the chutzpah of twelve men. After his victory, Beowulf bellows, "I am Ripper... Tearer... Slasher... Gouger. I am the teeth in the darkness, the talons in the night. Mine is strength... and lust... and power! I AM BEOWULF!" But it is precisely those qualities that lead to his undoing.
I came into this movie expecting a fairly light, by-the-numbers action adventure; instead, what I got was a Campbellian meditation on how unchecked ambition can lead to the ruination of oneself and those around him. The key moment happens in a cave when a newly victorious Beowulf confronts Grendel's mother in her lair. Up to this point, viewers are only shown fleeting glimpses of her that hint at her reptilian form, but, led by the mystic light of the Royal Dragon Horn — a gift for slaying Grendel — Beowulf comes face-to-face with the true source of evil: a water demon that has the distinction of being the last of her kind. When she finally reveals herself to Beowulf, her appearance is as surprising to him as it is to me. What looks like a shinning, gold-scaled dragon transforms into Angelina Jolie, a very hot looking Angelina Jolie, clad, Mystique-style, in nothing other than artfully placed gold, um… padding — and matching heels, because no seductress' outfit is complete without a pair of stilettos.
Like a succubus, Grendel's mother talks our hero into selling his soul with promises of eternal power and greatness if he sires her a son and leaves the Dragon Horn in her lair. As part of this agreement, the demon promises to cause no more trouble as long as the Dragon Horn remains in her possession. This act, of course, is tantamount to laying down almost all that is good and noble in Beowulf. When he returns from this stunningly bloodless encounter, King Hrothgar questions him on his success. In one of the movie's best scenes, Hrothgar susses out Beowulf's lie, but rather than reprimand him, he rewards the warrior with the inheritance of his crown, as well as his Queen, then throws himself off a cliff. The rest of the movie is spent with King Beowulf struggling with the consequences of his actions.
Some have criticized the use of CGI, particularly the "dead eyes" of the characters, but I found everyone to be quite expressive. There was nary a moment that made me aware of the tracking problem that's so common among the faces of realistically rendered human characters. The film made excellent use of motion-capture techniques, creating animation that is fluid and natural. The sense of substance for each person or object was unfailingly convincing, and the exquisite level of detail was spectacular, and frequently more believable than some other period or fantasy based live-action films made before or since. Only a few moments seriously suffered from that "rendered look," like when a wounded Grendel returns to his mother, or when Beowulf is first introduced amidst a raging sea storm.
Other viewers have also complained about the 3-D effects, but since I regrettably, only saw the 2-D version of the movie, I can't really comment on them. However, there were a few shots that were obviously designed to pop out, such as when the camera is placed point blank before a conspicuous spearhead. These instances can be a bit jarring because they don't serve the story, but are thankfully few and far between.
As for Beowulf's nude battle, it was at turns distracting — dude, would a loin cloth kill you? — and hilarious as a result of all the creative ways the filmmakers avoid showing the audience his privates (think of certain, classic scenes from The Simpsons or the Austin Powers movies) but that did not diminish my enjoyment of the well choreographed action.
Lastly, is the matter of pacing, which some felt to be a bit on the long side. I disagree with this assertion, and found the movie just long enough to make me care about the characters and what happens to them.
The screen writing team of Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary, the deft, bold handling by Robert Zemeckis, and the outstanding performances by the entire cast combined with the talented army of animators and effects wizards comes together to create a fantastic, if radically different, adaptation that should really be seen more than once. Beowulf is far from the unsullied hero of the epic poem, but is, instead, made into a flawed and fallible man, and is far more interesting and three-dimensional (if you'll pardon the pun) as a corruptible figure. The other characters are equally well fleshed out, and it is this quality that makes the film so strong, and gives it a longevity that will long outlast the glamour of its visuals.