Brilliantly bloody visuals do not automatically mean an amazing movie

Rating: 7/10 (17 November 2007)

Beowulf.
Everyone, or most people at least, remember encountering it in a high school English class. A lot remember the main story, and some, like me, slept right through most of the readings, and cannot fathom any idea about the story other than recalling the fight between the heroic Beowulf and the monster Grendel.
So in a way, it really does not help my case that the new film, tinkers and reinvents the legendary poem into something a little clearer and more tangible. While the key events are present within the film, it does change quite a few things within the mythical poem, but does stay fairly within the realm of the idea of what happens to Beowulf (Ray Winstone) after he fights Grendel (Crispin Glover).
Looking beyond the fact that the film is based on material written originally in Old English, the film stands out as a bit of a mishmash of ideas and concepts based in the initial text, but also based around the style of epic film-making. For one, it really brings a sense of age to the screen. The viewer can easily get a sense of similarity between this film and the likes of The Lord of the Rings, Gladiator, even the recent 300. It just does not feel entirely fresh in the aspect of it staying within the ancient European epic genre. It also falters in the dialogue. It frequently shifts between using Old English style wordings, to normal modern wordings, to just throwing in random pieces of comedy for no reason (and sequences designed specifically to incite laughter alongside them). The material is clearly brooding with darkness and cynicism, was there really a reason to make light jokes at the expense of the kids watching it? Do the majority ruling adults have no say? It jumps around for the entirety of the running time in this manner, and at times, becomes downright bothersome (hell, Grendel only speaks in Old English).
There has been plenty of publicity about Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary's long road to getting the film made, and it really brings to light the reasoning behind the ill-placed light hearted sequences. It just does not feel like it is a fully cohesive piece. The tone is never steady, and if it is not trying to catch some laughs, the dialogue comes off at times as being ridiculously overacted and silly. How can anyone assume they are in for a hell of ride if you cannot even get past some of the horrible deliveries? Continuing on that same idea, the characters themselves are not much better. With the exception of Beowulf, Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins) and maybe Grendel's mother (Angelina Jolie), none of the characters are fully described or are even given some sort of backstory. We are subjected to this over and over, and never does it seem like the film is making a genuine attempt at even trying to cloak the idea that the characters are written so poorly. Some are given small doses of influence and motivation (like Grendel and even Unferth (John Malkovich)), but even then the characters seem very grounded in their ideas and style. It even gets to the point that when they talk, they just bring the entire movie down into sheer boredom (even with the stunning credit list of supporting actors). Incite and intrigue seemed to be the last thing on anyone's mind when they were actually creating the film. For the most part, the actors do look like they are trying, it just does not look like they are doing too much.
Winstone, as the lead, is a lot like the tone and design of the writing on the film. He truly shows off his talents as an actor in one scene, and then wavers into an uncontrollable mess of a character in the next. There is no balance whatsoever when he appears on screen in these scenes, and it brings to mind the question of how a true hero really should act. Winstone nails the lines, and the body language, but he just does not have the zest to carry the film in the direction it needs to go.
What does carry are the visuals. Absolutely immaculate in their design and near flawless, these are some of the best CGI scenes ever put to celluloid. By using motion capture technology, director Robert Zemeckis and his crew have put together characters that look, move and sound like the real thing. You can see the shade in all of the characters (and mythical creatures) that suggests that they are animated, but every other moment it is a bit more difficult to notice that the actors are animated.. The most minuscule physical details are corrected meticulously for every character, even the disgustingly deformed Grendel (who looks astonishingly realistic, and may just be the ticket to an Oscar come February). Just examining the beard Beowulf has exhibits millions of tiny hairs and blazingly realistic wrinkles. No CGI character (save for Gollum, Kong and Jar Jar) has ever been so completely and minutely realistic as the characters are in this film. I just wish liquids looked nearly as good as the actors and the backgrounds.
What is also interesting is the aging and weight loss given during the film. Winstone is a big guy, but you would never know because he is rather chiselled and athletic in this movie. And when he ages by fifty years, you can see no difference in the character other than the age. It is absolutely awestriking to watch and if for any reason to see the movie immediately, it would be that.
The film is not perfect by any means, but Beowulf is a valiant try at capturing an epic poem that is practically untranslatable. See it for the visuals, not the incomplete story.
7/10.