Beowulf [Director’s Cut]

The Movie

The movie conveys the epic tale of the legendary Geatish hero Beowulf and his heroic adventures, although some details of the traditional tale have been significantly altered, which greatly changes the complexion of the story. In summary, though, the story unfolds just as the original does.

Set in the Germanic warrior tradition of late fourth and early fifth century Scandinavia, Beowulf (Ray Winstone) arrives in Denmark to help King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins) rid his kingdom of the monster Grendel (Crispin Glover), who has attacked the king’s great hall, Heorot, and its merrymakers. The story revolves around Beowulf’s battles with Grendel, with Grendel’s mother (Angelina Jolie), and, years later as a king himself, with a dragon that attacks his kingdom.

However, the movie takes too many liberties with the story to make it an accurate retelling of the epic. These alterations appear primarily in the form of character development, and while the characters are appropriate for a contemporary movie, they do not fit the ancient epic. Moreover, the character modifications, in turn, substantially alter the themes and moral implications of the original story.

For example, the most substantial change is that made to Beowulf, who is presented as purely heroic, a valiant warrior and great king, in the epic poem. In the movie, however, Beowulf is not quite so pure, and his character is portrayed as a flawed hero (similar to Odysseus), still a valiant and courageous warrior and leader, but with key flaws that make him humanly fallible. While this change theoretically provides a valid modernization of the character, in practice, the character change is used to justify substantial alterations to the story’s plot, and, further, these changes shift the story’s themes away from kinship and glory and add moral implications that are not present in the original tale.

Speaking of moral implications, there are also elements of Christianity that do not appear in the original tale. While the epic poem was recorded after the spread of Christianity throughout Europe, the tale remains predominantly pagan, with little reference to Christian tradition or values. Christianity, however, is a factor in the movie, and while its insertion doesn’t substantially alter the story, its appearance doesn’t contribute constructively to the story either. Overall, the relevance of Christianity to the story is unclear and confusing, leaving the audience unsure of how to interpret its role. And, again, the moral overtones added by the inclusion of religion further blur the original themes of the story.

These faults in adapting the story are those of the writers, Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary, who deserve credit for making some creative choices that actually add more depth and coherence to the original characters and story. Unfortunately, such substantial changes do not mesh well with the nature and themes of the original epic. The writers, however, are not solely to blame for the movie’s flaws, as the motion capture technique is an overall failure as well.

While director Robert Zemeckis also deserves credit for attempting to inject some creativity into the classic tale, the performance capture production technique falls short of its potential. Motion capture may have a better future with action-oriented movies like Beowulf than with children’s/family films like Zemeckis’ The Polar Express (which used the same performance capture technique), but the technology must be improved before it can become a legitimate alternative to traditional live action production.

The various fantastic elements (i.e., Grendel and the dragon) look “realistic” enough, and the animation during fast-paced action scenes also flows smoothly and believably, but the animation for human characters is not detailed enough to allow for a sustained willing suspension of belief. In scenes with little action, characters’ movements are stiff and mechanical, and subtle aspects of the characters seem unnatural, such as hand motions and facial expressions. (Oddly enough, some video game graphics are more intricate and realistic than those used for the movie.) In addition, the lack of detail and precision for facial expressions interferes with the actors’ ability to convey emotion to the audience, and this lack of emotion certainly inhibits the development of deeper characters that the story attempts in comparison to the original tale.

Similarly, the mechanical nature of the motion capture technology renders the acting inconsequential, as no performances stand out. Jolie’s work is notable only for her practically nude appearance, and even that seems a bit contrived, inserted only to demand the attention of male viewers. (Ironically, though, the crude sexual references throughout are a bit more acceptable, as they, at least, preserve the spirit of the story, the original recitals of which would have likely contained much innuendo, similar to Shakespearian plays.)

Special Features

There is almost as much additional content as there is primary content, and, unfortunately, not much of it is worth the additional time. ‘A Hero’s Journey: The Making of Beowulf’ is the longest, but perhaps the most valuable, of the features, as it focuses primarily on the performance capture technique used and is able to convey an understandable summary of how the process works. This feature makes the movie seem a little cooler, as it shows how powerful the technology really is.

‘The Origins of Beowulf’ feature also retrospectively makes the movie a little better, as director Robert Zemeckis blatantly says that he doesn’t like the original epic and that the movie is not intended to follow it. However, this still doesn’t make the liberties taken with the story acceptable.

‘Beasts of Burden: Designing the Creatures of Beowulf’, ‘Creating the Ultimate Beowulf’, and ‘The Art of Beowulf’ all explore various aspects of the animation, from the designs of the various creatures, to the design of the Beowulf character, to the design of the landscapes and settings, respectively.

Finally, there are some deleted scenes, which must not have been deleted from the actual film, as the animation has not been completed. They don’t offer any major contributions to the story, though, and, even if they did, the unfinished animation makes it difficult to appreciate any of the story content.

Presentation

Similar to the entire project, the DVD package appears to have great potential but falls short of fulfilling it. It begins with a very dramatic main menu, complete with intense music and action-packed clips of video. However, the rest of the DVD setup is completely void of production value. There are no transitions among the menus and no moving video on any other menus, and there isn’t even any audio on the other menus. (Although, it would seem that they only recorded one song for the movie, as the same one featured on the main menu is used for almost every special feature in addition to being prominently featured in the movie)

Overall

In theory, Beowulf seems like it would be a great movie. A classic heroic tale packed with action and lots of computer generated graphics. However, it turns out the heroic tale isn’t so classic, as alterations are made to the characters and story that substantially change the plot and themes. Moreover, the computer generated effects are too prevalent, with the performance capture technique giving the movie an overly mechanical texture. So while action scenes are tolerably realistic and believable, the motion capture technique prevents the actors from connecting with the audience, resulting in a harsh and unemotional movie that lacks sufficient human elements. And, unfortunately, the movie’s story is not strong enough to compensate for the deficiencies of the production technique.

There is nothing inherently problematic about the story; however, the writers would have done better to create a new epic rather than so altering an ancient tale that the original characters and themes are overshadowed by moral implications absent from the classic epic. Overall, the story clashes with the original epic and the motion capture techniques are still not sophisticated enough to produce compelling human characters, making Beowulf a movie that is as unsuccessful as its goals are lofty.