Poetry in 3D - A review of BEOWULF

My cohort Aaron Webb penned this review of the recent computer-animated film… and as he knows the source material better than I, I’m posting his review first. I’ll post my own thoughts on the film next…

Changes to Poem Render Computer Animated Film Less Potent
by Aaron Webb

Robert Zemeckis’ Beowulf is a computer generated sword and sandals film that draws on the oldest known literature written in the English language: an epic poem rich in plot, history, and characterization.

To fairly judge the film and the degree of its success we have to first understand the source from which the film was developed. The poem was composed somewhere between the 9th and 11th century and refers to people and events that may have occurred several hundred years before. Beowulf, a warrior hero from Geatland (aka Sweden), sails across the sea to help the Danish King Hrothgar fight Grendel, a monster who has been killing Hrothgar’s people for twelve years.

Since the time it was written down, Beowulf remained obscure until scholarly interest piqued in the 19th century. At first the poem was largely used only in the study of Old English. In the 20th century J.R.R. Tolkien was instrumental in building interest in the poem’s literary traits. The Hobbit borrows several elements from Beowulf, two of which appear as Gollum and the dragon Smaug. The most significant addition to the narrative was John Gardner’s Grendel, published in 1971, which paints the title monster as a misunderstood character as opposed to a heartless fiend. Michael Crichton’s 1976 novel The Eaters of the Dead changes the adversaries to allow the entire story to fit into Hrothgar’s kingdom.

Given how long Hollywood has been making movies, it seems odd that only in the last ten years has anyone tried to adapt the story to the big screen. 1999 saw two Beowulf films: The 13th Warrior, an adaptation of The Eaters of the Dead and Beowulf, a science fiction adaptation of the first half of the poem. 2005 brought Beowulf and Grendel which strongly humanizes Grendel. In Zemeckis’ adaptation we see a nod to Gardner with a somewhat sympathetic and whiney Grendel (Crispin Glover). Also, the action is localized to Hrothgar’s kingdom a la The Eaters of the Dead.

The way the film changes the themes of the story greatly influences the title character… (more…)