A sumptuous visual feast

Rating: 7/10 (23 November 2007)

In the ever evolving medium that is the motion picture, director Robert Zemeckis has thrown down the latest gauntlet in the arena of visual wonder with his computer animated adaptation of the epic poem Beowulf. Released in IMAX 3D, REAL-D 3D and standard two dimensional projection simultaneously, Beowulf is nothing short of a eye-popping marvel that proves a sumptuous feast for the eyes. The fact that it is not a masterpiece in other areas, but still a decent entertainment, does not dull its ability to provoke wonder for the audience.
Alternately an adaptation and a deconstruction of the tale most of us have had to tread through, to some degree, in grade school, Beowulf opens in Denmark in 507 AD, where King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins) has emerged victorious from an ongoing conflict with a neighbor. Reveling in his Mead Hall, Hrothgar and his people are attacked by Grendel (Crispin Glover) a rather pathetic, yet powerful creature who's ears prove sensitive to sounds of merriment. Hrothgar sends word that he needs a hero to defeat Grendel, and Beowulf (Ray Winstone), a warrior in search of glory, answers the call for help.
He fights Grendel and eventually finds himself face-to-face with the creature's mother (Angelina Jolie), where he makes a deal with her that proves to be his undoing later in life. The film's final act finds Beowulf, now the King of Hrothgar's lands, fighting a dragon that is praying on the populace.
Beowulf, is, first and foremost, a film that is designed to be looked at admiringly. Zemeckis had previously worked with the performance-capture animation technology for his 2004 Christmas epic The Polar Express, which was an equally impressive visual achievement, but Beowulf is definitely the superior on this front. From the detailing on the character's skin to the vistas and environments that the story inhabits, Beowulf is an impressive achievement in animation. The decision to attempt to replicate reality, to some degree, does place Beowulf in the unenviable position, unlike animated features that adapt an approach that chooses to stylize their environments, of being easily compared to the "real world", and in that respect, it does prove difficult to not occasionally come up wanting, or sometimes cause the characters to have a plastic look to them. But the very detailed nature of what is on display overcomes this limitation and Beowulf does not disappoint in the visual category.
Outside of the visual splendor of the production, Beowulf exhibits traits of drama, action, comedy and tragedy in mixed degrees. The screenplay, by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avery, isn't afraid to have a little fun with the proceedings, featuring some cheesy, yet humorous dialogue, not to mention an extended sequence in which Beowulf strips naked to confront Grendel because Grendel will not be facing him with any weapons or clothing. This leads to scenes where Zemeckis has to choreograph the action so that Beowulf's privates, computer generated as they would be, are obscured by objects and environmental elements, such as fog. Beowulf is a film that is not afraid to play it a little loose.
At the same time, Beowulf slowly builds a strong emotional undercurrent that takes hold in the last third of the film, and examines the frailty of heroes, the accuracy of tales of adventure and conquest and the weaknesses of men in general. While the material is not quite as emotionally resonant as it might be with real actors, Gaiman, Avery and Zemeckis do manage to leave you thinking. Much like post-modern horror films such as Scream, Beowulf wants to not take the epic tales of heroes at face value, but also look at the reality underneath and the cracks in the armor.
It is difficult to judge the performances in a film such as this. The actors "filmed" their scenes themselves on a empty stage covered in tracking markers, so the actions are ostensibly theirs, but the images have been adjusted by the visual artists after the fact. Even so, based on what is on display, Winstone is appropriately full of vigor and bluster as the younger Beowulf, and then melancholy and reflection as the older version. Angelina Jolie displays a seductive side as Grendel's mother, and Crispin Glover manages to realize a Grendel that is much more pitiable than frightening.
Beowulf is just one more example of the encroachment of technology on film-making, as the lines between animation and live-action continue to blur. Beowulf is a stunning-looking production, and is worth seeing in a 3D venue if possible, with some substance beneath the surface, although it is not quite up to Zemeckis' other works. If you are looking for a film that stimulates the senses, Beowulf is it.