November 23, 2007
Movie Review:
Beowulf, in 3D
By
Stan Dyer
When I was in high school and reading
J.R.R. Tolkien, an English teacher,
Miss Anthony, gave the class a copy of a poem written in Old English to read for comparison. The poem was
Beowulf. I remembered the story was about the slaying of a dragon, it was difficult to read in the Old English, and I was not very impressed. Imagine my surprise when I saw it was now an animated movie. Imagine my surprise when I found myself at the theater asking for a ticket. I was there, it was available in 3D and it was about to start. I decided to give it a try. After all, Beowulf is the world's oldest surviving epic poem and contains timeless advice suitable for all the ages.
In synopsis, an enormous, powerful and ugly monster named Grendel attacks celebrating Danes in their meeting hall. No one can stop it. The Danes pray for a hero to save them and Beowulf arrives by sea with a very small army. Beowulf defeats Grendel and the mortally wounded monster drags himself back to his mother to die. The mother, angered and grieving, sets out to exact revenge. The Danes again look to Beowulf to defeat the new threat, and Beowulf sets out to find her where she lives. Upon meeting the beast, instead of finding a horrible monster, he finds a beautiful, seductive creature promising him fame, fortune and success if he will only lay with her. Beowulf succumbs. Beowulf becomes king of the Danes and they thrive for years under his leadership. Then, after the passage of many years, an even bigger and stronger monster in the form of a fire-breathing dragon attacks the village. Beowulf, called to duty one last time, loses his life in defeating the dragon and passes on the torch to the next generation.
It is a well-done, classic heroic epic I am sure younger people will enjoy, (especially in 3D), since there is plenty of action, graphic fight scenes and gratuitous sexual innuendo. What would a 3D movie be without a few arrows into the audience or a spear in one's face? The movie is not unlike watching an intense video game on the big screen. The movie also has a number of timeless messages for those who look deeper into the meaning.
In addition to lessons on loyalty, honor, virtue, faith, seduction, temptation, greed, lust and basic human weakness, the story also attempts to teach how choices we make today may seem insignificant at the time, but their effects can grow over time and come back to haunt us. As the movie progresses, the audience come to suspect Grendel was the product of the king's indiscretion with Grendel's mother. Upon the death of her child, Grendel's mother lures Beowulf into a similar situation and the deed comes back to haunt him as well so many years later in the form of the dragon. When Beowulf battles his dragon at the end, it can be seen as a metaphor for life and how people must sometimes do battle with their own inner demons, but do not always win. Then, to show the continuation of life, there is the suggestion that yet another is lured into the same trap just as Beowulf and the king before him were. It seems as though even the Danes understood the value of a good story in teaching generations about the nature of man.
This is one of the best "cartoons" I have ever viewed. It's like a mix of a video game, an animated feature and a movie. I marvel at today's amazing computer animation. In 3D, the movie is only slightly enhanced, but I like it and I recommend it. I was always fascinated with my Viewmaster as a young child, and I suppose I will never grow out of it. The movie is well-directed by
Robert Zemeckis and features an all-star list of animated talent. The movie has something for everyone with a few lessons thrown in for the open-minded in the audience. Overall, a good movie and I rate it "A." Miss Anthony will be pleased I finally learned some appreciation for Beowulf.