Review: ‘Beowulf’ animation lacks human qualities

Directed by: Robert Zemeckis

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Ray Winstone, John Malkovich, Robin Wright Penn, Angelina Jolie

Rated: PG-13

With his new film, “Beowulf,” director Robert Zemeckis uses source material based on an epic English poem penned anonymously around 700 A.D. and an up-to-the-minute animation technique he first used in “The Polar Express.” The process is known as motion capture, and it allows filmmakers to map an actor’s expressions and gestures onto a computer-generated model, which can then be manipulated by the animators. The actors wear body suits with electronic sensors that “capture” their performances. These are combined with computer-generated background and props.

The process, while amazing in the sheer technical sense, is not the most appealing form of animation for the big screen. The final product makes it seem as if the viewer is watching a video game on a large scale – a video game without the benefit of player-viewer interaction.

The eyes in particular are somewhat unsettling. In many scenes, the virtual actors have the same look in their eyes that live actors playing blind characters affect. Also missing are the nearly imperceptible tics and twitches that every individual exhibits. If not video game characters, what winds up onscreen might be the actors after they’ve been invaded by the body snatchers.

But, the technique is not without its benefits. Ray Winstone as the title character (he’s in his 50s) gets rock hard abs, bulging muscles and other Adonis-like attributes. Sir Anthony Hopkins is rendered quite portly as the mad-for-mead Danish king, Hrothgar. The actor who gains the most – by looking the most hideous – is Crispin Glover as the mama’s boy/demon Grendel.

One wonders if they tweaked Angelina Jolie at all, except for the high-heeled hooves. As Grendel’s mother, we see Jolie wearing nothing but a coat of metallic paint and a serpent’s tail. The actress herself said she was actually embarrassed when she saw the film and really felt she was naked on-screen. This is yet another selling point for the film’s target demographic – teenaged boys who are into adventure video games and hot babes.

This “Beowulf” is not aimed at English language scholars, to be sure. While the poem provides the basic plot and character names, screenwriter Neil Gaiman (“Stardust”) and Pulp Fiction co-writer Roger Avary have jazzed up the story for 21st century action movie fans. Besides Jolie’s virtual nudity, there is enough sexual innuendo in the dialogue to make one wonder how the film maintained its PG-13 rating.

The film opens with a mead party in Hrothgar’s hall. The celebration is interrupted by the appearance of the giant demon Grendel. Grendel kills, maims and generally wreaks havoc.

Hrothgar says a hero is needed to defeat this monster.

In short order, Beowulf and crew arrive. Beowulf himself is an archetypical character, the hero who boasts as well as he battles. He says he will kill the demon. Since mead parties usually bring Grendel around, another is thrown to lure him. Beowulf says that since Grendel won’t be wearing armor, neither will he. So, he strips naked. Zemeckis uses a lot of the same camera tricks employed in the “Austin Powers” films to keep the bare essentials covered.

Grendel arrives, Beowulf battles him and lops off his arm. Everyone assumes the demon has gone back to his lair to die, but they must be sure. Beowulf enters Grendel’s lair, where he meets the demon’s mother. Unable to resist her beauty, he enters into a Faustian deal, which only comes home to roost some 50 years later in the film’s climactic final battle scene. After ruling Denmark for half a century, Beowulf is confronted by, and slays, the mighty dragon that is also the son of Grendel’s mother. The fathers of both the dragon and Grendel provide interesting emotional weight to the plot.

The battles scenes in “Beowulf” are spectacular, and the updated screenplay is very good. But the nature of the animation leaves the film less engaging than it should be. One wonders how much better it would have been with live actors and an R rating.

Note: The version showing in Springfield is standard 35mm film. At 1,000 theaters around the country, there are 3-D versions being shown and by all accounts, the new 3-D technology is amazing. You’ll notice some of the scenes (with rather forced angles) that were planned to make optimum use of the 3-D format. There is also an IMAX 3-D version and, while it’s not currently running at the IMAX in Branson, one supposes it will eventually play there.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield freelance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.