By Frederic Germay
After hearing critics, authors, and literary scholars labeling the story of Beowulf as a classic to last throughout the ages, I imagined that the film would receive praise in the same vein. Needless to say, I was quite wrong. I'm not familiar with the story, so I'm assuming that the story of Beowulf was mangled in some way, and the film, "Beowulf" wasn't treated with the delicacy it deserved. All in all, it was one horribly bad film.
However, there were some positives swimming amidst the overwhelming ocean of negatives. After viewing the film in 3-D, it would be absurd to deny that the CGI animation department is without merit. The sole redeeming aspect of "Beowulf," are the stunning visuals, which come close to rivaling the best films of the year. "Beowulf" soars during the dragon and sea-monster battles, and humanizes each character's personal features to the point where the viewer almost forgets that everything is, in fact, animated.
Never the less, this film's obvious faults vastly outweigh what few triumphs it may have. For example, the outrageous nature of some of the plot decisions beg me to wonder whether anyone actually bothered to watch the movie in its entirety before it was sent to the theatres. During the first few moments of the film, I was clueless to why everyone was acting like idiots, but I suspended my looming impatience until the plot would start to pick up. Then the monster proceeded to make its entrance and wreak havoc for an exciting minute or two, then the film returned to its doldrum state. That would be my primary problem with "Beowulf" -- it bores you to death, and then provides you with an exciting, visually impressive, battle to distract you from how ridiculously substandard the actual plot is.
Then came the absurdity of it all; the hero Beowulf comes to kill the monster...naked. With the aid of a few strategically placed helmets and spears throughout the battle scene, we are treated to an unclad Beowulf wrestling with some gruesome demon. Judging by the repeated laughter throughout the cinema, I wasn't the only one who couldn't take this film seriously.
What really bothered me about this film and so many others that have appeared in theatres -- they are just so disappointing in so many ways. Obviously, the fact that a literary classic has been severely mutilated, and people will think of this travesty when they hear Beowulf, is the primary reason for why this film is a disappointment. Also, I hate to seem like a conservative, but I believe that if this film hadn't been animated, it would have received an R-rating. Many of the plot devices were really too inappropriate to belong in a PG-13 film, and it is quite disappointing to see how lax the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has become in recent years.
There are a few instances of good voice work, particularly with Anthony Hopkins' character. Surprisingly this film actually does deliver a touching moment or two, and the gory battle sequences were impressive enough to continue to drawn in new audience members. Unfortunately, these occasions where film actually doesn't induce self-inflicted eye gouging occur so rarely throughout the film, so they can't really redeem the film in any way. Overall, this film is tragically mangled, and despite one or two bright spots; I could never recommend this mess to anyone. I give this film a 2/10.
