Beowulf (2007)

Based on the Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem "Beowulf"
Written by Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman
Directed by Robert Zemeckis

I liked this movie a lot, and it's not for the reasons you may suspect. Yes, it's a sprawling epic that teeters more toward the notion that history is only as good as it's remembered, much like 300 earlier this year, but at the same time it uses its showy and action-based to stand as a comment on the changing of times and evolution of technology and entertainment.

As an action movie, criticizing purely the narrative, it's a trite mess. Then again, what can be expected of the oldest story in Anglo-Saxon culture? Sure, it's something we've all seen before, but you must consider this is because every story that has been made up since it has in fact remembered Beowulf and drawn inspiration from it.

I'm not going to bother with the plot, or to examine the source material, because if you haven't actively sought it out, or didn't read it in high school English class, there's not much chance that you care to at this point in life. It's a story of greed, ego, honor, and that always elusive human lust for fame and fortune, which obviously go hand in hand.

Again, I'm not here to discuss these elements as pertaining to the actual plot, because as I said before, if you're not familiar with them, then you don't care to be in the first place. On that note, who is to blame you? You've invariably seen or heard the story before, even if you aren't actively aware of that fact.

What I found most interesting in this version is how Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary obviously thought over this fact, accepted it, and moved on. Their version of Beowulf is not the one you read in 11th grade English class, and that's exactly why they changed it so. What interests me more than the fact that they changed is this reason why. In changing Beowulf, they are not commenting on society at large, they are merely participating in it, which to me is a more profound way to approach the subject. Anyone could have adapted Beowulf as it stands to a movie, but few could have subverted it to relate to current audiences, and in turn, be part of that modern audience at the same time.

This story about a monster slayer, Beowulf, is nearly as old as paper itself, only being committed to writing when it was actually realized that this is a better way to keep the story going, and much less of a hassle than teaching it to yet another generation. With this film, this is exactly what Avary, Gaiman, and Robert Zemeckis have done.

They've taken that story that people are either sick of hearing or never wanting to hear in the first place, and making it into exactly what they want to see. Again, this fact, this subversion is what makes it unique and more of a statement than anything they could have written. As I see it, both of the writers had a bit of fun just crossing out lines from the poem, and supposing what should have been written all those years ago in order to make it relevant today. This is a foresight and a talent that few others would have been brave, or humorous, enough to make.

On the other end, what brings this film full circle is Robert Zemeckis and his obsession with the evolution of technology. While the story itself centers around a main character that uses the evolution of thought to his advantage, the director uses technology in the same way to grab audience attention by supporting the words that were written by Avary and Gaiman fully.

This evolution of evolution is an interesting thing to watch. Consider, the oldest story in Anglo-Saxon recorded history is retold, in a changed manner, with the latest and brightest technology available. To think about the film in that way eclipses anything the story could have even possibly been about. As I said before, the story itself is so old that it's been remixed and rewound more times than anyone could possibly imagine, in more formats and mediums than most could keep track of.

Still, Zemeckis is able to subvert this fact by reinventing the story into the newest medium available. So while he is subverting one of history's oldest stories, he's inventing a brand new history at the same time. Again, the foresight of such thought amazes me in ways that send my head spinning.

With all that said, I suppose I shall critique the movie itself, on most basic terms. The motion capture animation is spectacular, I didn't particularly like The Polar Express, neither the story or the animation really intrigued me. However, in this film Grendel (Crispin Glover) is truly a sight to behold. His grotesque mangled form is the accomplishment and hard work of many wonderful artists, and although it is used to tell a rather rudiementary part of a quite simple story, it's still amazing to think of how this came about. Yes, Angelina Jolie is nude, although obscured, as Grendel's vengeful mother, who later turns into a dragon, which I might say puts to shame anything in the recent films like Eragon or even the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Is it because they are better crafted, or more well rendered? No, I believe I feel this way merely because her dragon meshes with the rest of the environment in such a way that there is no distraction from the story at hand. As great as the special effects in the Lord of the Rings were, you still always knew they were different from the human characters. In this, they aren't.

The action is probably the least impressive part of the entire film. Sure, there are bodily mutilations, giant scenes of monster inflicted disaster, and some good skull munching from Grendel, but that's not what excited me about this film. Sure, it interested me in ways that other action films did, but that's just the problem. These scenes merely reminded me of other action films. Which, when the rest of the picture did the exact opposite, the balls-to-the-wall action is somehow less impressive.

This use of animation is sure to be the next big wave, while animated features will continue to be done in the style of Shrek and Finding Nemo, this evolution of the animation genre is what I've often spoken about before, especially in expressing my disappointment in Pixar being bought permanently by Disney. I can only imagine the brilliant minds at Pixar would have eventually come to a similar style, if not by means of technology, in style of story content, going for more secular, adult audiences. As I mentioned, I thought I would always wonder what Quentin Tarantino or Martin Scorsese would do with truly limitless technology, meaning there would be no budgetary concerns because whatever can be thought up can be animated. I believe this style of animation will win over straight animation for these ideas I've had in the past, and I must say it's a promising style indeed.

For the purposes of this review, I will post my entire rating system, and where each of the points came from, because I personally think it's more relevant than the final rating itself in the case of this film in particular.

8.7/10