Review – Beowulf
- Ethan Cole
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Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary offer their take on the legend of Beowulf brought to form by Robert Zemmeckis and his continued hard-on for motion captured animation. It’s Denmark A.D. 507, the twilight of heroes, the fading of the Norse gods and the entrance of the christ god to put a damper on the Nordic fun. Grendel stirs some shit up, at which point Hrothgar states a hero is needed to slay this punk. Beowulf hits the shores; he will kill the monster Grendel. Hubris gets the better of him.
The picture opens up with music like a hybrid high-octane action movie punctuated with a feudal battle beat. The studio cards display, the music building to something big, here’s where one would expect an impressive stylish opening title sequence. There isn’t one. The film’s title comes up transitioning into the mead hall. It’s not jarring, but it’s a peculiar start and mildly awkward, but is soon forgotten as the camera sweeps through Heorot: the mead hall; quickly establishing the characters and the merry making, consisting of boozing, foreplay and titillation (complete with plausible breast physics) – fornication’s in the mind (and by that I mean off screen). Given the state of CG now, it’s a wonder no one’s optioned/proposed a remake of Caligula (not that it needs to be made). There’s some sweet lock offs and cinematic eye candy to be found, with some actions suited to an opening title sequence – but what’s here is good at building atmosphere and setting. A majority of the transitions, whilst slick, are for the most part traditional movie sorts – match cuts and sound.
Alan Silvestri’s score augments and elevates the action and atmosphere striking the right power and excitement that the material demands; bearing an epic energy and simultaneously an air of melancholy paralleling the addition of hubris. The music itself is contemporary yet classic; there’s a hint of the adrenaline of Speed at times and the end theme echoing the sentiments of a Bond theme, yet fitting appropriately into an almost haunting dark fairy-tale; a solemn melody… but with the hint of something ominous and it’s mystique – effectively capturing the essence and spirit of the characters.
This was clearly meant to be seen in 3D, as is evidenced by the abundance of objects (from coins to limbs) flying directly at camera. Needless to say this does become annoying after a while, but thankfully it’s not happening constantly. Understandably though, the 3D and gimmicky nature would have been the main draw for some viewers. But as a result some of the action sequences come off gimmicky sacrificing immersion for a digital theme park ride as opposed to something more cinematic. That’s not to say there aren’t any cinematic moments to be found within the action sections, but rather it detracts from the scene at times, most evident during the battle against the dragon.
It’s somewhat perplexing as to the purpose of using the likenesses of the voice-actors – perhaps it’s easier to market… Regardless there are some issues involved in terms of the overall presentation, which takes an adjustment period, given it falls somewhere between realistic and stylized. In effect the familiar faces of the actor’s can yield some peculiarities when it comes to conveying dramatic intent thus some of the deeper expressions required come off somewhat awkward and at times overly ambiguous. The ‘look’ itself can be a little inconsistent, with certain landscapes falling within the animated stylized variety and other’s being photo real. The characters however do appear fairly wax-figure-like in regards to their movement (at times bearing the cartoon jitter) but due to the motion capture and physics they’ve got enough mass and physicality to appear convincing.
The animation is for the most part solid and fluid with some impressive physics and particle effects at work – in particular the almost throwaway sorts such as sparks and water refraction. The blood splatter and in particular the flesh; membrane textures are fantastic, especially with Grendel; visually complimenting his almost autistic-like shrieks in old English. This all augmented by excellent sound design and foley work. Fire and water look fantastic – bearing the appropriate photo reality particularly augmented by the excellent lighting, the cave possessing the most stunning use: the self-illumination of characters in the water; and an excellent use of a dual-tone color palette contrasting the cold blue of water and the warm glow of gold. This is poetic imagery realized.
In spite of the graphics, it’s hard not to get sucked into the whole adrenaline rush; the excitement of battle; evoking that which is truly epic – particularly in one of the best character reveals in a while; a classic and totally effective one – all in a single take (thanks to the CG) whilst simultaneously establishing the camaraderie and trust exhibited by Beowulf and Wiglaf.
The action has it’s moments of a true epic and is seldom marred by the 3D gimmick. However, the Grendel VS Beowulf – Round 01, is almost as if it’s: Le Cirque du Soleil Présente: Beowulf Contre Grendel, c’est une bataille spectacle. But the pay off makes it worth it, given the strength of Avary/Gaiman’s script and power of Winstone’s delivery. The film could have used one more action scene, possibly a development of the battles in the montage or the addition of a battle between Beowulf and Grendel’s Mother would have been welcome – even if it was just Beowulf’s account of what happened – which would have worked given his earlier account of the Sea-Monsters. The latter comes off like a God of War battle, what with the blood letting and pure power of mythic imagery.
Ray Winstone as Beowulf dominates; bellowing his name evoking true might and power. To some his accent and intonations may not match their image of Beowulf, but it can be soon forgotten, even if one were to imagine the hulking renditions pounding the opponents face into the ground. If this was an R-Rated film, Kratos might have some competition – at least from a mythological standpoint, as there’s no real debate here: No one’s got shit on Kratos. Conversely he conveys the flaws and subtleties through Beowulf with humanity and a tired regret.
Anthony Hopkins is good here, delivering the appropriate demeanor and weight to a weary Hrothgar. It’s nice to see, considering some of his somewhat vacant performances in some flicks prior. Especially when the weight is lifted, and he’s free his delivery rings of truth. Malkovich is peculiar (in a good way) as Unferth (son of Ecglaf) the shifty little bastard capturing the disdain and disgust in his delivery but sometimes coming off somewhat ambiguous (due in part to his weasel-ish face). And if you’re thinking “this guy’s like Wormtongue” – it should come as no surprise since Tolkien borrowed concepts from Norse and Germanic mythology.
There’s something about Angelina Jolie's performance that is somewhat annoying, it could be the use of an accent - but it works, as she's a hag (she is, quit your internal monolog you potential succubus victim). Funnily enough she doesn’t have much screen time despite the constant presence of the character. Much of her reveal was shown in the trailers; pretty much used to sell the movie (right to the loins of the PG-13 crowd). It’s a cool character reveal minus the peculiar stiletto-esque heels (some femme-dom reference perhaps), which may have been more powerful if the actors likenesses weren’t used and not used in the trailer. It’s one of those tough balances, and near impossible to rectify since no one really gives a toss about mythology. And all you assholes playing the Korean RPG Ragnarok can go fuck yourselves, repeatedly, over and over, until your orifices chafe, the skin bleeding off to the point you wish you had a pink sock; you should then begin felching the puss out of your gaping goatse imitation.
Teeing up the nice tidy package is Robin Wright Penn as Wealthow, - bathing in melancholy; evident through the two songs with a haunting melody; and Brendan Gleeson as a cautious and strained Wiglaf providing an excellent counterpoint and compliment to the boastings of Beowulf – especially in the third act when both are tired and weary.
The dialog is perfect not feeling overly contemporary or fake-medieval, and nothing less was expected of Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary. Fantastic work. No doubt their take on Beowulf will piss off lot of University types in medieval studies and the like (And with them, a horde of pretentious pricks possibly whining about this as an unfaithful adaptation) – but to hell with them (especially the latter sort, with a special ‘fuck you’). This isn’t a bastardization of the source material as it is another take on it, exploring the essence of the myth through an alternative point of view, albeit to some degree a cynical one.
There have been several interpretations of the intent behind the Beowulf poem; a critique of hero culture; the buzzkill of Christianity (and it’s overly annoying concept of martyrdom); the celebration of Nordic traditions, and so forth. This here: is cinema – an alternative view of the myth, which according to Joseph Campbell ‘is a metaphor’ – and as such a take on the heroic boastings and growth of myths and legends: the eye of the beholder, the deliverer of messages, the teller of tales – such is the nature of oral tradition. Rather than accepting this oral/document of old, this new approach to the material is a valid one, making it one of the few instances where an alternative take on the source material works – primarily because the writers used logic coupled with understanding of the source material, not like “All Constantine’s friends die” … fuck you asshole. To think that shit wasn’t added and twisted is retarded. Everybody lies, even in this modern age of the of the so-called information highway, the cyber veins running through the epidermis of the globe, lies are spread everywhere even in the most respectable of circles. Do you think something written thousands of years ago is going to go unchanged? To hold it as the ultimate document of truth is retarded. The amount of shit lost in translation alone; down to interpretation – that’s why it’s a myth. Not a fact.
The spirit of myth; the growth of the tale; the expansion of the legend, are all inline with the aspects of oral tradition – expressed here and furthered with the addition of hubris, evidenced in “He has a story to tell” referring to the Frisian raider Finn, evocative of the strength of his legend and the belief in it. Beowulf in this moment presented effectively of a flawed hero as opposed to an impenetrable indestructible force, thus resonating truthfully.
Another addition to this incarnation is The Royal Dragon Horn, which isn’t something superficially tacked on, but rather a nicely integrated mythological element; playing a fairly integral role to this telling of the tale; both as an extended metaphor and a narrative device. Furthermore it’s well framed by Zemmeckis and it’s visually vibrant in the cave. Realistically, a lot of these fabled items probably didn’t exist to begin with, but rather a metaphor representing some ideal or intent. Such is the case here, The Golden Horn – representing desire/extended into hubris, which is found in abundance here.
The final moments of the film are fantastic elements of pure cinema; conveying the right weight and strength of an evocative finale and simultaneously ripe with descriptive imagery; the washing of the ocean waves on the shore – this is poetry and cinema at its best.
It would be nice to see an R rated version of this - with extended fight scenes, not necessarily a happy Beowulf with his cock flailing about like a mace, but perhaps an added action beat and some Nordic death metal playing as the church burns to the ground.
Recommended For:
- Fans of animation
- Fans of Neil Gaiman's writing
- Those who dig mythology
- Anyone who gets off over a 3D Angelina Jolie
- Herpetophiles-lite
Rating: 7.6/10
Cumjackulation Rating: 7.0/10
(ratings explained)