Reveiw - Beowulf (The Movie)
December 04, 07 by david
I finally got a chance to see the movie Beowulf this weekend. I will admit that I was chomping at the bit to see it. I am a real sucker for these types of movies and generally like them when I do see them. Being as excited as I was, I had to see it in 3D IMAX; No exceptions. So I shelled out my $15.00 to see what I thought would be an awesome film.
As the movie started, I was impressed with the 3D. It’s been a long time since I have seen a 3D movie. I believe the technology has come along way since Friday the 13th in 3D. Things were popping out of the screen and it gave you a general sense that you were part of the action. However, the glasses soon became a nuisance. The one size fits all pair doesn’t really work well for me given that I already wear glasses. It’s basically wearing two pairs of glasses for two hours and trying to ignore it. It just doesn’t happen. After a while, I just want to tear the glasses from my face and walk out in frustration.
About 1/3 of the way through the movie I started thinking that the motion capture didn’t look as good as it did in the trailer. I remember being amazed watching the trailer and thinking that I HAD to see this movie. It looked stunning. But as I was there, watching the movie, I found myself often thinking, “It doesn’t look as good as I thought it would.” The animation was touted as being the same technology that was used in The Polar Express, only better. Don’t get me wrong, the animation was good. Probably the best I have seen yet. It was a lot better than The Polar Express. But there were moments that it just looked Shrek-ish to me. I was left a bit disappointed.
Then we have the story itself. The plot was loosely based on the actual Beowulf poem. I had to read the poem in Mr. Hinkle’s high school literature class, so I was familiar with the story. But, to my further disappointment, this screen adaption took many liberties in altering the story line to weave in a modern message. Totally unlike the written narrative, Beowulf isn’t really a hero… he is just a fallible man, corrupt and easily tempted. This isn’t what I understood Beowulf to be. He was a bigger than life superhero who slays dragons and becomes a king. His men respect him because he fights along side of them on the front line. In fact, he is the mightiest and bravest warrior of them all. This movie makes him out to be a sort of chump with a tall tale and a big ego. Though he certainly is brave, he is brash in the act of being brave.
However, I got the message that the movie was trying to convey and it may ring true. But I am kind of getting tired of screenwriters robbing us of our heroes. First, Superman is a deadbeat Dad who refuses to mention his famous tag line, “Truth, justice and the American Way”. And now Beowulf is a boastful looser who happens to be able to kick a little ass when he needs to? What’s next, Santa Claus is a pedophile?
I was disappointed with many aspects of the film, but I didn’t wholesale dislike it. It had its moments and I guess the message was fine if you think about it. But the bottom line is that I just don’t think it was really worth the $15.00 I paid to see it. It was one that I should have just waited for it on pay-per-view.
I guess I just miss the days when there were clear heroes and villains; unlike in real life. But I guess that is why they say that art imitates life. No?
kurtiigeek Says: 04.12.07 at 10:49 pm
I usually like movies done in CGI, not a big fan of 3D with the special glasses, but I had no desire to see this movie. And after reading the review, my decision is solidified.
sophie Says: 15.01.08 at 5:36 am
I agree with most of what you say. I have spent many years researching the Old English poem, and I was disappointed to find that the splendour and courtesy and polite language of the original had been almost completely lost, only to be replaced by vulgar speech and lustful conduct. Certainly, the animation was good, but there was hardly any storyline, and what was included was quite incomprehensible at some points. Granted, the writers had done some background research, and I thought this showed that they were at least serious in what they had undertaken to do. But the original poem is actually a historical account of the struggles between the different tribes and families of early Scandinavia. The monsters are actually a representation of real personages against whom ‘Beowulf’ was made, by the poet, to fight. There is no way that the audience of the original poem could have believed that the monsters were real or, indeed, terrifying. The poem is, quite simply, symbolic in its presentations. The poet used just the same dramatic techniques as our authors use today. Do we believe in werwolves? Does the fact that there is no such thing detract from our enjoyment of a story about men who undergo human-to-beast transformation? The poem is great literature. The audience of old was clever and refined, and accustomed to interpreting such devices as were used in presenting the story. None of this was apparent in the new Warner movie. It wasn’t remotely scary, as far as I could see. In fact, I liked Christopher Lambert’s version much better. At least it made some sense. And, to those who slated Angelina, I thought she quite stole the show. She and ‘Wiglaf’ were the only two characters who did not resort to speaking gibberish and acting like imbeciles. We are intelligent human beings. Do we need to be subjected to such rubbish?
Review - Jumper | a journey through the very ordinary | betz.org Says: 24.02.08 at 6:30 pm
[…] movie was another one of those movies that sold me from the trailer. I think it was when I saw Beowulf that the trailer for Jumper came on and I got it in my head that I really wanted to see the movie. […]