Review of Beowulf (2007) by Billy O — 10 Dec 2011

You know, when you think about it, Robert Zemeckis is kind of like another Steven Spielberg in terms of directing, not just in style, but in the fact that Zemeckis can also make a deeply touching, heartwarming film, and then turn right around to make some insanely violent and disturbing action films; but man, they can make that stuff cool. The only difference seems to be the fact that when Robert Zemeckis decides to pursue animated film, he's not going to wait about twenty years to actually do an animated film; he's probably going to "spend" about twenty years making animated films. Hey, maybe Spielberg was so devesated that he couldn't have made that animated "Harry Potter" film that he lost his desire for animated films; but hey, he's finally going for it with "Tintin" and I hear it's pretty darn good, so it's better late than never. Actually, even in animation, the similarities between Zemeckis and Spielberg are striking, because they do have a very similar taste in animation and they're first animated film of this type is a fun little adventure film; which means that the next animated film Spielberg does will be a historical fantasy action film that's packed with gore-tastic action sequences. Well, then again, after "Spartacus: Blood and Sand", I think that we've gotten more than our fair share of obviously cartoon gore in historical epics. Well, probably just for the decade, which is more than perfect, considering that Spielberg will probably take another couple of decades to make another animated film. Zemeckis, on the other hand, only took three years to put that heartwarming family fantasy "The Polar Express" behind him and get to some head-smashing; which isn't to say that said head smashing isn't always delightful.

Now, I'll let gore go, but not when it's gratuitous; and boy howdy is this some gratuitously disturbing gore. The gore is inventive, I'll give it that, but the film opens up with Grendel mashing women between his hands, ripping off a man's leg, throwing people against spikes and tearing a man in half, before drinking the blood that dumps out of his upper body; and that stuff just doesn't work, because of Zemeckis' directing, not being bad, but being too good, in that he puts too much emotion and bleakness behind the gore. Don't get me wrong, violence is part of the story, so you have to have some kind of emotional resonance, but if that's all you put into the gore, the entertainment value behind it is all but extinguished and substituted by manipulative disturbances that actually dilute the emotional resonance. Man, I sound like I'm just making up excuses to not sound like a whimp. I mean, I am, but I have to call them like I see them, and Mr. Zemeckis seems to be too good of a director for something this entertaintingly brutal; and yet, when Beowulf isn't punching Grendel's overlarge external eardrum to the point of rupturing, this film slows down like Gary Busey probably should have on his motorcycle. Really, the problem with the film is that it is too heavy, too human, and sure, that's great and all, especially for a film about Beowulf, but with all of the style and such a brief script plaguing the emotion of it all, this film could have very easily fallen apart, not very likely to the point of being bad, but easily to the point of being forgettable. Still, as I said earlier, Robert Zemeckis is just too darn good of a director, and although his greatness works to his disadvantage at points, on the whole, it's Zemeckis and his style that make this film so inventive, so memorable and overall rather enjoyable.

As much as I've criticized the gore in the film, there's no denying that it's all attached to some awesome action sequences, each one of which boasting Zemeckis' trademark "Flying Cinematography" technique that has always done wonders when it came to plunging you into Zemeckis' world, and this is certainly no exception. Each action sequence is dizzyingly tense and slickly stylized to incorporate tension that may not always be used to a balanced degree, but makes every bit of action a thrill ride, with each action sequence growing more so until we finally come down to an explosive climactic battle that boasts plenty of tension that Zemeckis really knows how to quickly shut down and replace with genuine and actually appropriate emotional resonance that makes the ending as strong as it is. Still, the action would be nothing without, well, the great score, which I'm just forcing in here, because I can't think of any other place where I can bring it up. No, but seriously though, what carries action and the slower parts past tedium, and consistently makes the film so worth watching is, of course, Zemeckis' always fantastic animation. True, there is a bit of vacancy in some of the animation, but on the whole, there's still plenty of life and inventiveness in the animation, which still wouldn't be as effective as they are without the lively performances behind the animation. Among the standouts are Crispin Glover - who portrays the agony and threat behind Grendel in a very emotional and effective fashion that creates both the sympathy and tension that feels as though it's been missing from the Grendel mythology -, Angelina Jolie - who's chilling subtlety and seductive grace make her a tensely effective antagonist - and, of course, our lead Ray Winstone - who's... voice is just so awesome that you're drawn to everything Beowulf exlaims; and that just so happens to fit the character perfectly -. No matter what world he's in - whether it be animated or live-action - Zemeckis never drifts too far from his fine taste in style and performers; and that works wonders for this film and all but lifts it past its flaws.

Overall, this grand tale could have been rendered totally underwhelming - due to the slowness and briefness of the runtime -, with nothing to remember, outside of some overly disturbing gore; but the great Robert Zemeckis isn't about to let that happen, and saves the film with his always solid taste in style and animation that pay quite the complement to the booming action, but doesn't do it all, being joined by lively voice performances that all play a part in the formula that ultimately makes "Beowulf" the generally enjoyable experience that it is.

3/5 - Good.