With the original poem sitting on most UK schools’ curriculum, most British audiences might approach this movie thinking they know what to expect.

In the poem, the hero Beowulf struggles for glory against three mythical monsters: the monstrous Grendel, who is attacking a Danish settlement at the foot of the mountains, Grendel’s mother, and, in later life, having become a king and a myth himself, a fire breathing dragon.

For those who aren’t familiar, I won’t ruin the plot with spoilers.

While director Robert Zemeckis puts a contemporary spin on the tale, it more or less sticks to the original fable. Add an enthralling screenplay from fantasist Neil Gaiman (Neverwhere, Mirrormask, Stardust) and you suspect you’re in for a treat.

The story fizzles across the screen, with Ray Winstone’s muscle-bound hero fighting sea monsters, wrestling with the horrible Grendel and commanding a terrific presence – no mean feat for a digital animation. Likewise, the supporting cast, rendered in shimmering CGI, does not disappoint. Anthony Hopkins as world-weary (and slightly sleazy) Hrothgar absorbs the audience from the outset, and John Malkovich as the cunning and cravenly Unferth stands up to the actor’s usual standard.

If the female characters here seem a tad on the passive side (perhaps a result of the age in which the story is set), Angelina Jolie as Grendel’s golden-heeled and seductive mother frankly steals the show. In fact, you could argue that her emergence into the film, sliding naked from an underground lake, is the best bit in the entire movie – if only for its blatant sex appeal.
You can’t help but feel you’re watching a slice of cinema history.

Don’t get me wrong. Parts of this movie didn’t seem to work as well as intended.
The beginning struck me as somewhat slow, and later on, the storyline appeared to lose its way, before catching up with itself in another terrific action sequence involving an enraged dragon and a crumbling castle. Some of the nods toward modernity also fell short by a couple of yards, and in several places, the humour felt a little flat.

The 12A certificate puzzled me. Parts of Beowulf are very adult, despite the slightly misleading fact of its animated nature. There is gore, scares and more than a few sexual overtones. Parents have been warned!

There is no doubt Beowulf is avant-garde and extraordinary, a movie that aims to bedazzle and for the most part, succeeds. I watched the movie in 3D, and having the odd spear thrust in my face was a new and breathtaking experience.
To be honest, I’m not sure what my opinion of the movie without these effects would have been. A worthwhile entertainment, certainly, though perhaps not the same assault on the senses that an IMAX can provide. One wonders how the film will translate onto DVD. This critic feels, as he does about other productions intended chiefly for the big screen – notably Peter Jackson’s King Kong – that quite a lot gets lost along the way.

Beowulf ended on a moral that seemed left up to the audience to decide, another welcome facet. I don’t know if this animated format is the future of film, but all in all, it makes a pleasant change and a fascinating experience.
And isn’t that what cinema is all about?
Beowulf wins by innovation alone.

© The Exploding Boy 2007

On the schools' curriculum? I only got to read this poem in the Anglo-Saxon part of an Eng. Lit. degree course. They can't be running our of texts so quickly, unless it reflects the modern taste for horror and violence.

I wished I'd had time to see this until I read a review that said they'd added a dragon. It makes sense in a way - much of the original poem is atmospheric, evoking the fear of the victims gathered nigthtly in the mead-hall, each hoping it's not his trun to be torn limb from limb by the marauding Grendel.There's a lot of detail about the sound of joints crunching apart and teeth tearing at flesh. The mother is even more dreadful, although her existence is not supected until she comes looking for her son - a bit like 'Jaws' (I think) where they find out too late the one they've killed is a fraction of the size of the adult. Definitely not a naked Angelina Jolie rising from a lake.

So, a castle, a dragon and a sexy Grendel's mother - a long way off the original, I think. I'd like to see Ray Winstone as a kind of atavar, though. I thought a similar technique worked superbly well for 'Spartacus'.

I'm not one who thinks the film should slavishly reflect the book, and your excellent account of the movie makes it sound very enjoyable.

Sheila



<Added>

Not Spartacus, but a film called '300', which had Spartans in it.

Great review - now I want to see it even more

300 was wonderful - loved it.

Sarah

Thanks Cornelia and Sarah.

Yes, I liked 300 too. Very visceral.

It actually wasn't the poem Beowulf in school, but a novelization by a chap called Seamus Heaney.

JB

<Added>

Not even a novelization, a translation.

Oh, the poet Seamus Heaney. I'd forgotten he'd done a translation and now I'm prompted to read it. A quick Internet flip tells me that his version includes Beowulf's a fight with a dragon 'late in his life', but don't remember we translated that section when I was a humble Goldsmiths student struggling with Old English, so maybe it's not regarded as an authentic part of the poem. My teacher in the seventies called it 'Old English' rather than'Anglo-Saxon' - something to do with emphasising the continuity of the language. Chaucer's stuff was 'Middle English'.

The other thing that puzzled me was the reference to Denmark and a castle, because as I understood it this English tribe with a leader called Hrothgar lived in a stockaded settlement. They slept together every night in a Heriot, their mead-hall (no beer, because they were hunters and herders) mainly because night-raids by rival tribes were common. They didn't have stone buildings, which is why their are no architectural remains, only signs of settlements such as pottery andarrow-heads, etc. This was the first written-down version of tale that was part of the oral tradition 'til then, the main entertainment in the mead-hall being songs and recited legends.

It could have been a story originating in Denmark. Most of us hated the compulsory Old English because it was a chore to translate, although as a northerner I was better placed than some as many Old English words survive in northern dialects. Students who like the heroic/fantasy element (Tolkien, of 'Lord of the Rings' fame was an Old English scholar) could take a further option, Old Icelandic, which was mainly legends, so perhaps that's where the Scandinavian connection comes in. A friend did that but he had the advantage of a Japanese girl-friend who looked up all the words for him so he could just enjoy the stories, jammy devil.

Thanks for reminding me of all this - as I say, I'll look up the Heaney version.

Sheila

That's interesting, but yes, the writers have taken certain liberties with the script. Other people seem to be picking - and I do mean 'picking' - up on this too:

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/

Scroll down to the posting 'strikes and scripts and stuff' - there's a message there from a fan about the geographical inaccuracies.

I think this is fine, myself. The movie Beowulf works primarily as a fantasy, and is an interpretation in itself, rather than a faithful rendition based on historical data etc.

JB

Very interesting site and discussion. The quote reminded me of the very powerful language of the poem itself. I somehow didn't imagine that the actual words of the poem, even translated, would be used in the film. I think I once heard it recited on the radio in a version by Kevin Crossley-Holland which I thought gave a good idea of the original.

I agree that a film should be judged quite independently of the text and unless it claims some kind of documentary status it doesn't really matter about the location. Besides, as I said, this legendary hero probably did originate with Scandinavian legend.

I'm going on holiday tomorrow so won't catch the film, unless the run is extended, but maybe I'll get a chance to see the DVD. I hope so.

Sheila

A late response to the film from me, but well worth the wait- I loved it. I too received what I thought at first was a free choc ice but which turned out to be 3D glasses in a wrapper. I thought they were very effective, and agree about the unnerving sword-points seeming to thrust right out of the screen. I found myself dodging the arrow-showers meant for the dragon.

I didn't find the first part too slow because it established the mood of the mead hall and I suppose got one used to having tables flung at one's face. Also, you had time to identify the characters with their odd names. I didn't recognise John Malkovitch as Unferth until I saw the credits.The moody lighting and high-angle shots including the rats in the rafters were good and helped give a sense of menace.

Yes, indeed this was the hero we've been waiting to see, even if he did talk funny, saying things like 'Ah wiw kiw yo monstah!' He was fantastic, especially when naked, although I must say the actions parts when the really interesting bits were covered up by the odd well-placed table-leg made me laugh, and reminded me of Bart Simpson's naked skateboarding through Springfield.

I didn't know why everyone else seemed to have a Welsh accent unless to fit in with Anthony Hopkins but I noticed Grendel sounded authentically Anglo-Saxon and had a touch of the pathetics, a la Frankenstein's monster or the hunchback of Notre Dame about him. All that business with Angelina Jolie and the supposed son was entirely made up, but seemed plausible enough. It's important to get in some variety when a film is to include a number of fight scenes. The dragon was terrifying and the part where he was trying to shake off Beowulf by brushing against the cliffs was the best sequence, especially as you had to dodge the boulders, with the earlier sea-monsters scene a close second. I also think this film was too much for 12 year olds, quite apart from the naked lady.

There was a 3D a trailer for 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth', due for a Summer release, which looked impressive. Maybe the trend to spectacle and fantasy will last a while.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Sheila

Glad you enjoyed it. Personally, I thought the naked Beowulf was a bit too smooth and hairless. Matter of taste I suppose.

Fantasy and sci-fi movies are always popular, even with audiences who don't read in that genre. I'd definitely like to see more 3D movies though, it really added something to proceedings, I thought - even if my eyes did feel funny afterwards.

JB