BEOWULF is recognised as the oldest surviving epic poem in the English language. It is a tale of heroes and monster that has influenced fantasy writers for centuries, from Tolkien downwards. As with any ancient myth or legend a lot of its appeal is lost in its language that is too convoluted for the average listener, and its popularity is further undermined when it becomes an academic text. This applies as much to the tales from Greece, India, Scandinavia or wherever. Modern audiences need new interpretations to pique their interest. Norse mythology became interesting when Marvel brought out the Mighty Thor comics, Ray Harryhausen brought the Greek myths to life and XENA made them all the more watchable. And let’s not forget what Peter Jackson did with THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Two pop culture icons got together to revive the legend of BEOWULF and bring it into the 21st century. Neil Gaiman (who needs no introduction) and Roger Avary (co-writer of PULP FICTION) literally filled in the missing gaps in the original story then added more sex and violence, and even a bit of comedy. But that was ten years and the script not so much went into development hell as development limbo, until Robert Zemeckis finally picked it up as an animation project, but one far removed from his WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT. Utilising the motion capture (mocap) method he’d previously used on POLAR EXPRESS, he was able to bring a sense of realism to the movie that his producer Steven Starkey says he would not have been able to achieve with any other method.
Mocap works by getting the actors to wear a special suit with lots of little balls on them. All the actor’s movement are capture by a battery of cameras that feed the data into a computer for the 3D CGI artists to use as a basis for their animation. For the actors this means they are physically performing rather than just doing a static voice-over. It also meant that Ray Winstone, in the lead role, has a body closer to Arnie’s.
The animation does look stunning, and even more amazing in 3D. I saw it IMAX 3D and it is huge and spectacular, and very loud. It is also being released in two other 3D formats (Real D and Dolby Digital 3D) as well as 2D for cinemas without the 3D projectors. If you are going to see it definitely try and find a cinema that is showing it one of the 3D formats. On the downside I have to say that I found the technique did tend to distract from the story at times, possibly due to the size of the IMAX image, but I kept thinking, “what amazing skin textures”, “the hair and beards look almost real” and, unfortunately, despite all the motion capture technology the characters’ movements were stilted at times. Being CGI it also meant that otherwise impossible “camera” movements were possible and at times some of them did feel gratuitous and were done simply because they could be done and allowed the director to make the most of the depth the 3D projection added. In fact some of them were vertigo inducing.
I have to say that I am not overly impressed by the amount of CGI animation that is being foisted on cinemagoers as most of it is used to cover up weak scripts, and a lot of the animation itself is not much better than that seen in old video games. Pixar always impresses because their stories and characterisations make you forget you are watching animation. SURF’S UP managed to do that as well, making it about the only recent non-Pixar Hollywood animation to achieve it. The rest is coming out of Japan. Square (which is not entirely Japanese) have done amazing with both of their FINAL FANTASY features, with beautifully smooth movements and incredible texture work that brought the characters to life. And plenty of other studios are doing equally amazing work but seamlessly integrating it with traditional 2D animation. TEKKONKINKREET, PAPRIKA and GHOST IN THE SHELL (2 and 3) immediately spring to mind.
But back to the movie in question.
The tale is epic and action-packed, as it should be and if you can avoid being drawn into studying the technical aspects (which will be hard for anyone who works in computer graphics) it is entertaining. Anyone familiar with the original poem will find some licence has been taken but it actually makes more sense now, and the monster Grendel’s mother has been transformed into an Angelina Jolie shaped temptress.
Definitely worth a look, and as I said before, especially in one of the 3D formats.
BEOWULF is released nationwide on November 16 by Warner Brothers.
Watch clips here:
Watch exclusive interview with the writers Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman here