Beowulf

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Horrorphile - November 2007

Beowulf

November 27th 2007 23:53

I read a prose adaptation of the epic Nordic poem "Beowulf" back when I was a lad. The monster Grendel gave me the heebie jeebies, and I was especially horrified when the warrior Beowulf tore the hideous creature’s arm off, leaving it to slink back to its lair to die. It was this moment of unbridled horror which stuck in my mind for years.

"Beowulf" the poem was penned on shaved leather some time between the 7th and 12th century, but apparently had been told for centuries before that. It’s a single 3000 word poem written in Old English and set in Denmark. It tells the story of a village of Vikings governed by King Hrothgar who are terrorised by a monstrous 12-foot tall humanoid beast called Grendel that lives in a cave in the nearby mountains. Grendel is a creature of intense pain and immense rage, his flesh like that of a tumor, all bloody and ruined, his face falling apart, his bones bursting through his ruptured skin; truly a nightmarish sight to behold.

Anthony Hopkins as Hrothgar

Grendel storms the dining hall in a whirlwind of supernatural blue light, and tears it apart, throwing the men and women around like rag dolls, tearing them limb from limb, and biting off their heads. He confronts Hrothgar, but defiantly Hrothgar stands his ground, a strange moment of recognition between the two. Then in a howl and a whine he leaves the scene of carnage, dragging bodies away to gnaw on back in his watery lair.

Ray Winstone as Beowulf

In despair Hrothgar demands a warrior of immense courage is needed to defeat and kill Grendel. He promises power, treasure and glory. They need a hero. And thus, a hero arrives across the dark fearsome seas; a tall, bold, fearless golden-haired warrior by the name of Beowulf. “I will kill your monster,” he tells them.

Screenwriters Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary wrote the adaptation ten years ago. Now it finally reaches the screen using the latest in motion capture technology. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, who first used this process with his kids flick The Polar Express, Beowulf (2007) uses real actors wearing skin-tight lycra suits fitted with numerous motion senses. Then they act out in a customised sound stage called a volume and are filmed with countless cameras from all angles (apparently three hundred cameras were used!). Then their bodies, and the surrounding interiors and exteriors, are digitally animated over. The result is a curious one.

Beowulf Brendan Gleeson, John Malkovich, Robin Wright-Penn

Brendan Gleeson as Wiglaf, John Malkovich as Unferth and Robin Wright-Penn as Wealthow

It is often spectacular, but also it’s a strangely distancing effect. While it enables the director to orchestrate the most elaborate action sequences which would be impossible to film with real actors, there is a distinctly human element missing from the performances: the life behind the eyes. There is no real focus from the eyes, they appear dead. This is the one area the digital animators have yet to succeed in. Another area of irritation is the varying accents, but if the film was in Danish with subtitles, the box office would suffer (this isn’t The Passion of the Christ, remember).

Crispin Glover as Grendel

Zemeckis has garnered a very strong cast, and many of them are recognisable in their Viking guises; Anthony Hopkins as King Hrothgar, John Malkovich as embittered Unferth, Brendon Gleeson as Beowulf’s right-hand man Wiglaf, and most recognizable of all, Angelina Jolie as Grendel’s water-demon mother, a succubus-siren if ever I saw one (and her nude first appearance slowly rising from the waters of her lair is something to behold!)

Angelina Jolie as Grendel's mother

Others are less recognisable; Robin Wright-Penn as forlorn Queen Wealthow, Alison Lohman as earnest young Ursula, Crispin Glover as demon offspring Grendel, and most disguised of all, Ray Winstone as Beowulf. Ray, of receding hair, average height and overweight, is transformed into a 6’6”, lustrously-haired, super-buffed, chisel-jawed warrior. If you thought 300 was over the top with its air-brushed six-packs, then you ain’t seen nothin’.

The demon-spawned dragon confronts a terrified Ursula (Alison Lohman)

Most impressive though is the golden dragon of the movie’s second half. This is a raging beast of truly spectacular proportions. It is in the second half that Beowulf truly commands. After adjusting to the soulless dazed expressions of the characters I become more engulfed in the story-telling, and it both Gaiman and Avary have done a great job with what is renowned by literary experts as a very disjointed and clumsy narrative. The themes of seduction and pride, courage, greed, and despair are painted in vivid colour. It is a tale of valor and glory, submission and annihilation, and it comes full circle in a curiously satisfying way.

The evil golden dragon in glorious flight

Ray Winstone never knew he could scrub up so well

I was not impressed by the trailers for Beowulf, nor the idea of so many “name” actors in what looked like a vanity project, but Zemeckis, for the most part, has pulled it off. It’s an epic myth in the guise of SuperTrash. And probably the most visceral M-rated “horror” movie I’ve seen. You even get to see both Ray Winstone and Angelina Jolie fully starkers … well, actually, no, not really. Angelina had a body double (she certainly isn’t as voluptuous as that anymore!), and the animators have attempted to de-sexualise her (ie no nipples and genitalia), while during the scene where a naked Beowulf battles Grendel, although you see plenty of tight Nordic butt, there is always something strategically covering his Scandinavian schlong. It’s rather amusing to say the least.

Is that a nipple I see before me?

Beowulf might appear to be a kidult movie, but if I was a parent I wouldn’t be taking my ten-year-old along. Grendel is a genuinely frightening, and repulsive creature likely to give any kid nightmares! Adn that dragon is pretty nasty too. Mind you, kids these days are subjected to all manner of grotesque and adult material, so go figure …

The rage and pain that is Grendel

The Beowulf myth has been adapted numerous times over the years in various different guises. Curiously a production came out a couple of years ago, Beowulf & Grendel, with Gerard Butler in the lead role, whom would go on to appear in the lead role in 300, another digitally-drenched mythical tale of dark heroism. Beowulf is perhaps not as slick or quite as adult and violent as 300, but it’s as vivid and intense and, arguably, more entertaining.

Of note, I saw the 3D version at IMAX. The 3D is pretty damn impressive, although not as impressive as the live action stuff I saw for the last 20 minutes of the last Harry Potter. We’re still waiting for the state-of-the-art 3D projection with non-obtrusive glasses, but in the meantime, deal with the slightly taxing and ever-so-slightly blurry effect, and go enjoy the in-your-face sword and sorcery of Beowulf in 3D on the giant screen. It still rocks and rolls.

Although it doesn't do the cinematic experience justice, here's the best of the trailers:

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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14 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by jon

November 28th 2007 00:13

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I'm definitely going to see this in 3D at the IMAX. I'm always a sucker for special effects.

I'm not sure about Grendel though. Looks like a comical monster with that great big head.

Comment by Bryn

November 28th 2007 00:25

Horrorphile

Jon, Grendel does appear slightly comical, but in a very distressing kind of way. It's like he's some huge humanoid disease, and if you get to close you'll catch some gangrenous cancer ... The dragon is the star though.

Comment by Damo

November 28th 2007 02:32

For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics

You are right about the dead eyes.

Incidentally I really did not like 300's CGI spatter fest.

However this looks like a bit of fun.

Comment by Bryn

November 28th 2007 04:30

Horrorphile

Damo, yeah, I pretty much agree, I liked the production design of 300, and I thought the Oracle dance was a highlight, but Beowulf is less, shall we say, earnest. Both films are very male though.

Comment by Holly Go Lightly

November 28th 2007 07:34

Movie Mage

oooo, these are so scarey, I guess you are too.

Comment by Bryn

November 28th 2007 10:13

Horrorphile

Holly tread lightly in these here creepy woods ... I gather you're not one who normally gravitates toward the Darkness, but perhaps found your way here because of the lure of the Hollywood A-list in this here mythical tale ...

Comment by What's Your Story?

November 29th 2007 15:54

What's Your Story?
So You're Getting Married

I saw this on IMAX as well --- man, it was brilliant!!! The effects, I mean.

Comment by Bryn

November 30th 2007 02:29

Horrorphile

Story, yeah, effects were great ... I'm concerned for the future of actors though ... when they get the eyes right, they'll be concentrating on CGIed performances next.

Comment by World_Rim_Walker

January 16th 2008 04:04

*clutches head and groans* Urgh. Call me biased, but I love the book "Grendel" by John Gardener. I know it was a reinterpretation of the original Beowulf poem, but so is this. Did we really need another "EPIC" version of this story (which, as has been mentioned, has already been adapted numerous times)? EPIC FAIL.

This movie's version of "Grendel" is a joke! He looks like some inbred retard with a bad case of leprosy! And don't even get me started on "Grendel's Mother". I believe even the original poem describes her as a sort of monster-woman, but we must have Teh Fanservice, so let's make her a hot naked chick! Oh, and that stupid, muddy-looking dragon will NEVER compare to the sinister, nihilistic old firebreather from the book.

I know I'm kind of ranting now, but I can't help it. From the moment I saw the trailers for this movie, I was repulsed, but just looking at this review makes that feeling ten times worse. I wish someone would read the book and try to make a GOOD adaptation. The closest we ever got was a pathetic attempt in cartoon form. And I mean like "kiddie cartoon" form. I don't know WHAT those people were thinking. Okay, I'm done now, pardon my tangent. Time to slink back to the mere...

Comment by Bryn

January 16th 2008 04:09

Horrorphile

World Rim Walker, I appreciate your rant, each to their own, thanks for posting ... I agree that for the best part, movie adaptations never reach the heights of their literary sources (with the rare exception), especially fantasy stories ...
The book I read as a boy, not sure which one it was, it had awesome illustrations that truly frightenened, was powerful stuff ...
On a SuperTrash level this movie works, but I was never comparing it directly to the source material ... As for the dragon, can you think of a more convincing looking dragon from the movies ...??

Comment by World_Rim_Walker

January 20th 2008 06:26

Bryn: Thanks for the reply. Yes, I know that adaptations seldom reach the glory of original sources (not to say they CAN'T... usually it's because the people doing it are either too lazy, don't think it's possible under the circumstances, or are just out to make a quick buck) but that doesn't mean you can't have something that deviates from the original but is still enjoyable. For instance, something like "Jurassic Park". The book had more interesting parts that were omitted in the movie, but the movie was still fun to watch.

And again, I know they're using the original Beowulf poem as the source, not John Gardner's story, so I guess I can't be too picky. It's just because I love the book so much I'm sorely disappointed to see what are, in my view, poor character dipictions wrapped up in flashy eye-candy for the sake of having "more of the same" style as, say, "300" (which I enjoyed somewhat, but still didn't think it was as spectacular as all my friends said it was) to milk off what's popular and make easy money. Of course, I say the same thing about A LOT of movies coming out these days; I am quite the nit-picker.

If the book you're referring to has "woodcut" type drawings of Grendel's head, then yes, that's Gardner's. If not, I'm curious as to what other version might be out there. And the dragon, yeah, I'm also rather picky with dragon designs, but it might just be that these are the only pics I've seen of it. If you want a better look, try "Dragonheart". Draco = <3

Thanks again for letting me gripe, and let me add that you did a good review, so don't take this as a critique on your writing style, despite my views on the movie.

Comment by Bryn

January 21st 2008 04:24

Horrorphile

WRW, Yes, I think it may have been the Gardner adaptation ...
I haven't read the Jurassic Park novels, but I really enjoyed The Lost World, more so than the first movie.
I wasn't especially blown away by 300 either ...
I've not seen Dragonheart, but wasn't that rather cutsey??

Comment by World_Rim_Walker

January 31st 2008 04:40

"Cutesy" wouldn't be the word I'd use to describe "Dragonheart"; it has its darker moments, although it's not super-serious. It's definitely worth a look if you haven't seen it before, but don't bother with the sequel. I'd also recommend reading "Jurassic Park" too. Some of the changes in the movie are better, but there are still some important and interesting things they left out I felt should've been included. Oh well.

Comment by Bryn

January 31st 2008 05:25

Horrorphile

cheers world rim.

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