"Beowulf" - Zemeckis-style...

Rating: 7/10 (26 December 2009)

Admittedly, 2007's "Beowulf," the latest adaptation of the classic Old English epic poem with no known author (and is very often required reading in high school), is not a film I paid very much attention to when it was first released two years ago. Home video has been very kind to this picture, however, since it received mixed reviews but was a huge box office success (it earned well over $150 million during its theatrical run) when it was released, due in no small part to its groundbreaking performance-capture CGI technology - improved significantly from director Robert Zemeckis's earlier "The Polar Express" (2004).
But let's be honest with ourselves: this is not your father's "Beowulf." I don't remember the exact details of the epic poem from English 12 my senior year in high school five years ago, but I do not recall that it was a dark, uber-sexy, ultra-bloody affair and treatise on the dangers of pride (this review is based on the unrated director's cut of the film, not the "PG-13" theatrical version). Differences aside - major and minor - Zemeckis's "Beowulf" is not a bad film, but a different one from what most of us are probably used to reading about, whether in school or for pleasure. In fact, "Beowulf" is a ridiculously entertaining film, even if it is prone to slowing down during its quieter moments, and the performance-captured animation is nothing short of beautiful and breathtaking.
In 6th-century Denmark, King Hrothgar's (Anthony Hopkins) kingdom of Heorot is being terrorized on a nightly basis by the hideous demon Grendel (a frighteningly effective Crispin Glover). To the rescue is the fearless Geat hero Beowulf (Ray Winstone) to battle Grendel and restore peace & tranquility to Hrothgar's kingdom. (Winstone's Beowulf is significantly different from the one in the poem; he's no longer the perfect "hero," but is instead flawed and is much more believably human. He's also prone to strong lapses in judgment when he lets his pride get the better of him.) Those who know the story know the rest of the film's events - Beowulf eventually slays Grendel, and does battle with his mother (Angelina Jolie) and becomes king of Heorot himself, now married to Queen Wealtheow (Robin Wright Penn). And lastly, there is the costly battle with the dragon that comes to terrorize his kingdom a few years later down the road.
"Beowulf" is a breathtaking action-adventure fantasy epic. It looks fabulous, and is appropriately dark, violent and sexy, everything a revved-up Hollywood adaptation of an ancient work of classical literature should be. The animation is advanced enough that it does allow for the characters to express believable amounts of emotion and even display facial expressions. And it's easy to tell who's playing who, since the characters do somewhat resemble the actors playing them, except of course the frightening, hideous monster that is Grendel. That was a brave performance by Crispin Glover, I'll tell you, who manages to make such a ravenous creature sympathetic by making him appear as a misunderstood outsider who is disturbed by the noises coming from King Hrothgar's mead hall and only goes there in an attempt at trying to get some peace & quiet. He's no longer the soulless, evil monster that we might remember from the epic poem, but simply a misunderstood monster-child who's trying to get some sleep, but the greedy, noisy humans who live nearby won't let him. I'm quite surprised that Crispin Glover hasn't gotten better work over the years.
And there is also a healthy dose of sex appeal to be enjoyed by members of both sexes. Considering that Ray Winstone looks nothing like his animated on-screen counterpart, the film's animators can be forgiven with taking some creative liberties with the actors. (And Angelina Jolie, presumably the sexiest woman in Hollywood, is certainly enjoying the you-know-what out of her 10-minute cameo here as the seductive, ultra-sexy Mother of Grendel, who eventually manages to seduce Our Hero Beowulf. The movie is certainly worth the ticket price alone just to see her in the nude, with gold body paint covering up her most private of parts, about an hour into the picture. Does anybody know for sure if she was really naked in this movie?)
Considering the movie was co-written by comic book artist Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary, I expected the script to be a little bit better. And what I mean is the tendency of the film to slow down toward the middle. Some of the changes that they made to the story can also be forgiven, but it also gives the viewer the impression of how much they were trying inject modern-day religious (read: Christian) themes into the story, which I can't even remember being hinted at in the original epic poem (but then again it's been a while since high school). The character Unferth (John Malkovich) becomes a vocal proponent of the then-new Christian faith and his suggestion early in the picture that King Hrothgar and others pray to the new Roman god is just one prime example of this. It goes to show the viewer the type of modern-day slant the filmmakers were trying to put on the picture.
Robert Zemeckis is still one of Hollywood's most valued dealers in groundbreaking special effects-laden spectacles. Even if his "Beowulf" is a mixed bag - but a significant upgrade from "The Polar Express" five years ago - it is an entertaining film, a ridiculously entertaining and ultra-sexy/ultra-bloody film. If you can, I'd highly recommend watching Zemeckis's director's cut. With this version of the film at least, even though it's got more bloody violence and greater sex appeal, you get the feeling that this is the complete film, and the real story that Zemeckis was really trying to tell, short of the ratings restrictions on the picture.
You'll either really love it or really hate it; I think I'm somewhere in the middle.
7/10