Emma Brumbaugh

10/6/13

D Block Brit Lit

Mr. O’Brien

           

Epic “Fale”

Beowulf is the epic of epic tales in the literary world however, it does not prove to be epic when it was created into a motion picture. Though there are some promising aspects of the movie, overall the movie fails just as the heroic character Beowulf did. I share some of my opinions on Beowulf the movie with Roger Ebert and the NY times.

            I agree with Roger Ebert when he was describing Angelina Jolie because he was writing with a sort of mocking/condescending tone. He says, “Oh her character was nude…except for the shimmering gold plating that obscured certain crucial areas”. He almost seems like he is poking fun at the idea of having a nude animated character and questions the necessity of having it. Though there is (basically) nudity, he mentions that it can still be rated PG-13, implying that this is due to the fact that she is a naked, animated character though almost is identical to Angelina Jolie. I also like Ebert’s quote, “I am reasonably certain that Angelina Jolie does not have spike-heeled feet. That’s right; feet, not shoes. This quote further calls attention to Jolie’s extremely sexualized character of Grendel’s mom, and her obscene physiology and indirectly points out, “Why does she have to look like that?”.

However, an aspect of Beowulf that is positive is the graphics and the animations.  I support the NY Times review describing the animation and 3D technology in the movie. It says, “We soar over the dramatic wintry landscape and dodge and duck as a winged dragon snaps in our direction or spears hurtle our way”. The animations were those similar to those of Polar Express, a movie who’s unique animation caused the Polar Express to be one of the most favored animated movies of our time. The setting of snowy Scandinavian landscape was nicely portrayed by the imagery and animation that had depth and also detail. The animators also portrayed Grendel correctly and well, though he was gross, he made the Beowulf movie enticing to watch even though I had to turn away a few times avoiding the pleasant view of someone’s head being politely ripped off.

            Though the animation is enjoyable and clay-like, it does sometimes gets excessive with the gory and gross fight scenes including dozens of limbs and heads being ripped off by force. Grendel also does not even look that scary, he just looks like a gigantic baby whose skin went through a blender (gross idea I know). I would have liked, and audiences probably as well, to see less of a sensitive, giant-baby looking monster, and more of a strong and powerful scary monster. Instead its almost funny to watch Grendel destroy the humans because he seriously does remind me of a baby, especially when he speaks. He is also portrayed as a huge “mommas boy” again demeaning his scariness level significantly.

The unnecessary sight of Grendel’s mom’s body, and some self-imploding animations, cause Beowulf the movie to be an epic “Fale”.  However, the creative directors of this movie, did get Beowulf the hero correctly. Possibly the only character who seemed to be like that in the movie, Beowulf is a tough Scandinavian hero who looks just like I imagined him. His long blonde hair, and his stubbly beard,

Beowulf looks like he can, or believes he can, beat any monster or enemy that comes his way. If only Beowulf could have saved the director of the movie from being defeated by movie critics.