Film Fetish: "Beowulf"

Beowulf (2007)
- directed by Robert Zemeckis


A new twist on the epic tale of Beowulf, a great warrior who answers the call of a desperate king looking for a hero to rid his lands of the ferocious monster Grendel.

I've been getting behind on these Film Fetish posts. I had to sit down and make a list of all the films I'd recently seen and have been meaning to post about. My memory was a bit foggy but thankfully I document most of my life in one form or another. :P ;) Anyway, I expect to make a lot more of these posts in the very near future.

I'm a mythology junkie, so I'm familiar with the Beowulf poem. I'd imagine a lot of people are since it's a text that you more than likely encounter at some point during junior high and high school. I haven't read it in full since then in fact. While my memory of the story isn't perfectly crystalline, I can definitely say that this retelling is nothing like the "original". Given the form it takes, that's probably a good thing. While the story itself isn't the most deep or complex to begin with, this version doesn't require much of your higher brain functions. :P It's a great little popcorn flick. Though, I don't mean to say that derisively. It's a bare bones hero's tale clothed in this awesome CG action flick.

The strength of this film I would say is its visuals. It's entirely rendered in CG using motion capture for the actors and actresses. If you're familiar with Final Fantasy - The Spirits Within you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's stunning. Especially when viewed in 3D, which I was fortunate enough to experience while it was in theatres. The visual effects and animation for this film are top notch. I was blown away at every turn. So much about this film seemed like an assault because I was constantly inundated with intense animation, sound design, choreography, etc. There's just so much going on, so much to appreciate. It was very much a sensory experience. The strength of that impression is probably why the story seems to be lacking. It's not the focal point of the film, but a means to an end; a perfect way to display this technical mastery. That said, there is something to take away from the film in the way of a message. Overall this film is a nice little meditation on pride, greed, deceit, humility and redemption. I quite liked it. ;)

8/10 Certainly not a film for die hard fans of the source material, but well worth seeing if you're in the mood for some awesome imagery and amazing action sequences. It's surprisingly violent as well, which is always a good thing. :P


DS333, satisfied.