12.10.2007

Beowulf - Movie Review

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Beowulf
***--

I'm not really sure what to say about Beowulf, because I'm not really sure what exactly the filmmakers were going for. I mean, they had to know, right? There's no way that with such a high concept and high budget they'd let unnecessary snippets through. Right? But let me share with you my experience watching Beowulf.
There's a moment not far through the film where our central protagonist, Beowulf, shows up on the shores of Denmark. He's travelled through a fierce storm and naturally, the guy is hungry. Specifically, he's hungry for meat. I'm cool with that, the guy is hardcore.
So Beowulf, the mightiest of literary folklore heros, approaches King Hrothgar and humbly asks if he can taste the king's infamous mead. Now, let me interrupt here and note that Beowulf is presented along with very thick accents, so the word "mead" is essentially indiscernible from the word "meat." This became interesting the moment the kings wife replied, what we all heard as, "There have been many a brave soldier come to taste my husband's meat."
At this point, I, along with my fellow movie goers, bursted out laughing.
I just don't know. Was it on purpose? I'm just not certain. No matter what the case, Beowulf is filled with numerous other intentional innuendo's, which are often more awkward than funny.
When it comes down to it, the whole movie is stilted by a sense of awkwardness. The animation, although being quite beautiful, ironically fails to capture the majority of the main performances by often hindering the characters with lifeless, passive eyes. The voices, provided by a host of tremendously talented actors such as Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malcovitch, and even Crispin Glover, remain the predominant source of life for these characters.
I would say within a year or two, this method of animation could be perfected and put into truly spectacular use. Beowulf, unfortunately, just feels soulless. Although it looks cool, is entertaining, and probably worth the ten bucks to go see, the experience is just hollow.

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