Movie Review: Beowulf
Paramount, Robert Zemeckis Bring 9th Century Epic Poem to Theatres
Beowulf all sound and fury, with a subtly satiric sting, but Robert Zemeckis' motion capture doesn't do Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman's script justice. 7/10
On the surface, Beowulf looks like your typical sword-and-sorcery fantasy with muscular heroes, willing wenches and gruesome monsters just begging to be slain. But do I detect a barb of satire lurking just under the surface, like the reptilian braid attached to a luscious water nymph?
Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman Deconstruct Beowulf
Every high school student has yawned through the tale of the mighty Geat Beowulf who first kills the demon Grendel, then his monstrous mother, but dies slaying a dragon. The 9th Century poem, with its uncomfortable mix of Pagan and Christian mythology, is one of the earliest known manuscripts in the English language, and has inspired countless stories, including J.R.R. Tolkien's classic Lord of the Rings.
But this isn't your English teacher's Beowulf. The scriptwriting team of Roger Avary (Pulp Fiction) and Hugo Award-winning author Neil Gaiman (American Gods, Stardust) decided to have some fun with the epic poem. Their Grendel (Crispin Glover) is a monster with a child's heart, tormented by the singing coming from Heorot, the mead hall presided over by the drunken King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins). Hrothgar may dress like Bacchus for his adoring thanes, but when Grendel bursts through the doors of Heorot, spreading carnage in his wake, there's a very good reason why Hrothgar cannot raise his sword against the ogre.
For Grendel's Mother (Angelina Jolie) is a temptress with a mother's hunger, who knows too much about men, their secrets, and their weaknesses. When she tells another character, "I know that, underneath your glamour, you are just as much a monster as my son Grendel," she knows exactly of what she speaks.
And then there is Beowulf (voice of Ray Winstone, body by Alan Ritchson), an arrogant warrior whose battle skills barely manage to keep pace with his bragging. He bravely offers to kill the monster who is terrorizing Heorot but, like any interesting hero, Beowulf's might cannot hide a fatal flaw.
Is Beowulf's flaw going to come back to haunt him? Do you need to ask?
Motion Capture Detracts From Performances
If Beowulf the movie has a flaw of its own, it's in the motion-capture style championed by director Robert Zemeckis. With previous films like 2004's Polar Express and last year's Monster House, Zemeckis used motion capture in order to develop a signature look for his fantasy movies. Motion capture is excellent for realizing the blood-pumping action scenes in Beowulf, but the technique fails miserably when it comes time to deliver some emotional weight.
Zemeckis has assembled a formidable cast for this film. In addition to the actors mentioned above, John Malkovich (playing the venal Unferth), Brendan Gleeson (Beowulf's trusty friend Wiglaf), Robin Wright-Penn (the long-suffering Queen Wealtheow) and Alison Lohman (Beowulf's mistress Ursula) giving these characters life. Any director would love to have actors of this caliber working for him.
But motion capture reduces their faces to mere wax mannequins with dead eyes, unable to match the emotive power that the actors' voices bring to their roles. Zemeckis needs to spend more R&D time developing motion capture's ability to depict human expression, or simply mix motion capture with live performances.
While we're at it, the motion capture fails miserably when it comes time to animate the horses. There's no real forward motion when the horses are galloping (and they gallop a lot) which makes the flick look like a video game, not a feature-length film.
The Final Analysis
Some have accused this movie of misogyny, that it depicts a Boy's Own playground where women can only be promiscuous temptresses or passive victims. But in the final scene, where a warrior watches a nymph suggestively gesture for him to join her in the watery depths, Beowulf suggests a more disturbing scenario: that men bear ultimate responsibility for the monsters that they must fight.
Beowulf rates an 8 out of 10.
Trailers included with Beowulf include: Cloverfield, Sweeney Todd, Wanted, Jumper and The Golden Compass.
