Beowulf

Director Robert Zemeckis (of BACK TO THE FUTURE and FORREST GUMP) has always placed himself and his works as examples of cutting edge technology, making a self-proclaimed breakthrough in motion-capture animation in 2004’s THE POLAR EXPRESS, which was a decidedly mixed product. Well, Zemeckis has returned with a new and highly advanced style with BEOWULF, an adaptation of the ancient text that owes just as much to co-writers Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman as it does its source. Zemeckis and company do succeed on several levels; the animation is superior to previous outings, as is the fluidity in action and storytelling. Yet there are still key detractions in the animation that keep BEOWULF from being a completely satisfying experience.

Taking its episodic nature from the poem, BEOWULF traces the rise and fall of the great hero, breaking up into basically three segments. In the first, aged King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins) calls upon the titular hero (Ray Winstone) to vanquish his kingdom from a gruesome, violent demon Grendel (Crispin Glover). Yet once the monster is killed, Beowulf finds himself facing an even greater foe: Grendel’s mother (Angelina Jolie in a role decidedly different from its counterpart in the source). The third and final section of the film takes place years later, when Beowulf is forced to face the mistakes he made in his first two quests.

The first half of the film follows the poem fairly closely and the technology serves to accomplish what live-action films simply could not; a true adaptation of the English language’s densest works. Yet once Grendel’s mother enters the picture, it takes drastic turns. This will likely frustrate fans of the source, yet as this film is being marketed squarely at the young adult male set, its target market will forgive faithfulness in favor of animated Jolie’s naked body. And Jolie isn’t the only character showing some skin. The usually portly Winstone, transformed into a Conan the Barbarian-like muscleman (ah the wonders of animation), battles Grendel in the nude; Zemeckis utilizes several self-conscious objects (candles, arms and, most appropriately, swords) to keep the film from straying into R-rated territory. And if you’ve ever wanted to see Hopkins nearly lose all his clothes, this is your chance. The film pushes its PG-13 rating in almost every way, and the nudity is just part of it. Blood is spilled everywhere, arms and legs are pulled off and nearly every scene contains some sort of sexual innuendo.

Yet all the daring choices taken with the material do not make up for the faults in the film’s production. The techniques of the animation have certainly improved since THE POLAR EXPRESS; the amount of detail in the settings are particularly astounding. But the characters’ faces are largely immovable. There is still something about these figures, their lifeless eyes, unexpressive faces and too-fluid movements that stick out. In certain cases, they seem like no more than well-rendered video game characters. Zemeckis is also tempted one too many times to get gimmicky; he favors long “takes” moving from one place to another, trying to be as all-encompassing as possible. Sometimes the tactic works, such as when Grendel is introduced. But when nearly every shot is constructed that way, it gets noticeable and irritating.

BEOWULF is an interesting continuation of an interesting experiment, greater than its predecessor but hampered by its noticeable faults. It is at times thrilling and spellbinding, especially when viewed in 3-D, but that is only during the film’s action sequences. During the dramatic scenes, Zemeckis’s gimmicks become all the more apparent and bog the film down. The film is not for everyone, and will probably upset some fans of the source. But those that find the technique used will undoubtedly be intrigued by the film. Entertaining enough for what it is, BEOWULF is still not the technological breakthrough Zemeckis wished for, but it’s a step closer.

**1/2