The Tale of Beowulf’s Animated Broadsword (How the Film lost the Glory of the Original Story)

           The violence. The gore. The nudity. All presented in Pixar-like animation. The film adaptation of the epic poem Beowulf seems like an adolescent boy’s dream film. Hopefully, they do love it a lot, because this movie does very little to impress outside of its pubescent visual appeal.

            Released in 2007, this film reimagines the classic epic poem in a new way. The original story, as translated by Seamus Heaney, tells the story of the hero Beowulf, and recounts some of his various fights and endeavors. The story’s three main fight scenes, against the monster Grendel, his mother, and a dragon, are the central plot points. In the film version, these three are woven together in a way that adds more of a continuous flow for the story, an understandable tactic for appealing to moviegoers. However, the plot seems to be only an afterthought to a movie that relies heavily on a strange mix between animation and incredibly mature content.

            After realizing this, it’s hard to not look at the movie as a satirical piece, rather than a legitimate film. What with all the blood and death that surrounds Beowulf, it seems too ridiculous to take seriously. Roger Ebert insists that the film should not be taken seriously in any way: “In the name of the mighty Odin, what this movie needs is an audience that knows how to laugh.” The fact that Beowulf feels the need to take off all his armor and clothing BEFORE actually fighting is hilariously irresponsible, and raises the question whether fighting in the nude really provides any advantages. And of course, the role of Angelina Jolie in this film was an interesting take on Grendel’s mother (by which I mean it was obvious she was there for sex appeal alone.) Overall, it feels like it should be pitched as a comedy rather than any type of serious film, and that the director put in as much mature content as possible to cancel out the more child-friendly aspect of animation.

            That being said, trying to take anything from this film of real serious substance is a complete joke. The plot does very little to make the story interesting due to its poor execution. It seems that director Robert Zemeckis decided to put plot secondary to the effects and more mature content that went into the film.

            Part of the problem stems from the animation. The rationale behind animation makes sense, as using animation allows for more freedom in what can be shown, such as the insane sea creatures that Beowulf faces. However, none of the animation really sinks in as visually different and completely appealing. The motion-capture makes the movements slightly realistic, but none of the natural flow of the human body. Also, the work on the facial animation was horrible, as there was no real expression on the characters aside from what could be done with mouth movements. Infuriation was added when the animation was then paired with 3D – a choice that hurt the film even more, as the mediocre animations began the horrifically obvious cheap ploys of using spears, flying dragons, and Angelina Jolie’s weird tail-hair thing to point things directly at the screen an into the viewer’s eyes. I almost wish they had gotten me.

            What I feel is the most striking loss is the wonderful dialogue that was contained in the print version. If you have not read the poem as translated by Seamus Heaney, I highly recommend reading it as opposed to watching the movie. Heaney’s incredible usage of the English language paints a fantastic picture of every element of the story, from the characters to the scenery. The dialogue in the movie, by comparison, seems incredibly lackluster. The imagery of the dragon, for example, is particularly different between the two mediums of storytelling. First, there is the written version:

“Yet the prince of the rings was too proud

to line up with a large army
against the sky-plague.” (Lines 2345-2347)

            See? “Sky-plague?” That sounds incredible. On the other hand, the movie gives us this genius bit of dialogue about the dragon from Beowulf’s companion Wiglaf:

“Odin's swifan balls!”

            There seems to be a certain lack of beauty in the second quote.

            And then, of course, there is all the sexual content – content that is wholly unnecessary. Claudia Puig, of USA Today, points this out in her own review: “Speaking of adolescent elements, there is a long sequence in which the well-muscled Beowulf/computerized Winstone is naked.” While the reimagined plot of the movie is interesting, it relies heavily on the fact that a lot of the characters have slept with one another. Without giving away too many details of the main conflict of the film, let’s say that animated Beowulf is a lot less noble than the Beowulf in Seamus Heaney’s translation. Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, is introduced by stumbling onto the scenery of a feast, clearly drunk and with a toga that barely covers him. While I’m sure that someone must have been attracted to the animated cleavage and abdominal muscles, it’s hard to think of who that person might be and how to best help them.

            And – call me crazy – but I really wasn’t attracted to creepy monster naked heel-footed Angelina Jolie. Maybe it’s just me.

            When it gets right down to it, the main reason I disliked this film so much is because of the fact that it doesn’t even begin to depict the wondrous storytelling techniques employed by Seamus Heaney. While the voice acting talents aren’t bad – notably Ray Winstone as Beowulf and Anthony Hopkins as Hrothgar – the movie itself does a very poor job of telling a story then it does throwing things at the audience. What could have been an epic tale of heroic deeds and terrible monsters turned into what was essentially a R-rated version of Shrek. So if you feel like you want to see a bunch of CGI-warriors get slaughtered by horrifically warped monsters that drool in 3D, then by all means, rent this movie. However, if you really feel like getting a good story, then avoid this film, because this Beowulf will slaughter those hopes – while completely nude, for no apparent reason.

WORKS CITED:

Puig, Claudia. "Sexy, Powerful 'Beowulf' Transforms Ancient Epic - USATODAY.com." Http://usatoday30.usatoday.com. USA Today, 16 Nov. 2007. Web. 05 Oct. 2013.

Ebert, Roger. "Beowulf." All Content. Www.rogerebert/com, 14 Nov. 2007. Web. 07 Oct. 2013.

Heaney, Seamus, trans. Beowulf: A New Verse Translation. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2000.