"Beowulf" is an epic poem, written by an unknown author in the 10th century. And it is now an animated motion picture, directed by Robert Zemeckis. It is the story if how Beowulf (Ray Winstone), slays the monster called Grendel after Grendel attacks the mead hall of King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins), and then is sent to slay Grendel's mother (Angelina Jolie). He returns a hero and is given the kingdom after King Hrothgar dies.
This movie was amazing for it's animation computer graphics and I now understand why computer generated images were used rather than the real actors. Some of the scenes involved stunts that would have been difficult if not impossible for a flesh and blood actor to pull off convincingly.
Unfortunately, that's just about the only thing about this film that was remotely interesting. The director took liberties with the original poem, to the extent that, the only thing that resembled the poem at all were the characters' names. In the poem, Beowulf indeed kills Grendel, and his mother, and an "un named dragon". The film has him bedding down with Grendel's mother and producing a son, who becomes the "un named dragon" in the end. It has Beowulf falling in love with Queen Wealthow. These two events did not happen in the poem....at least, not the one I read. Of course, I read it in college as part of an English Lit class almost 20 years ago, so I might not remember it correctly.
I think the only thing that might get people to go see "Beowulf" in the theaters is the chance to see a nearly naked, albeit pixelated, Angelina Jolie. Or the big names that make up the cast:
- Anthony Hopkins as King Hrothgar
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Robin Wright Penn as Queen Wealthow
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Angelina Jolie as Grendel's mother
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Crispin Glover as Grendel (George McFly in "Back to the Future")
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John Malcovich as Unferth
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Brendan Gleeson as Wiglaf (Hamish Campbell in "Braveheart", Mad Eye Moody in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire")
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Ray Winstone as Beowulf (Teague in "Cold Mountain", Bors in "King Arthur")
All the actors did a fine job with the script they had to work with, but that's really not saying much. If you're a fan of Hopkins, Jolie, or Malkovich, I'd say go see this movie. Otherwise, stay home and wait for it to come out on HBO. It's really not worth the price of a movie ticket. (Which is why I'm glad I had VIP passes and went to the matinée.)
I'd give this film a 5 just for the graphics and all star cast. When it comes to films based on classical epic poems, I'd rather they stuck to the story. This one didn't even try.
