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Printer-Friendly ModeComputer graphics ultimately break Beowulf
November 19, 2007 —
As visual effects in movies improve more and more, I often wonder how much longer acting will be necessary on the silver-screen. After having seen Robert Zemeckis's Beowulf, I can say that for the time being, the art and artists taking part in it have little to fear.
Beowulf is based on the epic poem of the same name. This film version sees a fairly decent overhaul to the source material, which is somewhat understandable considering audience and the nature of the original narrative. It tells the tale of a warrior that comes to save the Danes from the monster Grendel, and then later his mother, only to prove our hero is not quite as noble as a hero should be.
The film is done in performance- capture animation that Zemeckis also used on Polar Express. I'm not quite sure what the allure of such animation is. Does it look impressive? Sometimes, but not much more than the terrible Final Fantasy film that came out quite a while ago. Is it great for action? Yes and no. The problem with the technique is that it's meant to make an animated carbon-copy of its actors, and it does. The animation, however, isn't perfect, and the characters are clearly animated, which really hinders more than helps the film.
The epic poem, while about Beowulf's heroism, is more about a flawed protagonist, and the film seems to want to hold true to that in one form or another. Therein lies the problem because that means the film is somehow trying to balance overt, popcorn-style entertainment with deep, meaningful epic narrative - two things that don't mesh all that well.
The first key flaw with this combination is the film's ploy for a teenage audience. We get plenty of sexual innuendos that end up being more amusing than making any sort of commentary on the characters or time period, especially the scene where the nude Beowulf continues to have his genitals covered by arms or swords or something. The 3-D version of the film reveals numerous moments where the film services itself to the gag, with spears, arrows, swords or blood popping out at you. Then there is Angelina Jolie's animation, which basically features her naked, and the script parallels this so overtly that she is left horribly one dimensional.
The other characters, other than Beowulf, all end up with the same fate. Our lead does get fleshed out pretty well, and remains a very interesting character throughout the piece, though the rendering doesn't look much like the actual Winstone. The other characters are never given enough depth for the actors to do anything with, which is quite sad considering who the actors are. The animation doesn't help with this. Their faces are so crystallized and glossy that no emotions can be clearly read. This is a very frustrating fact during scenes that are dramatic or meant for character development. One particular scene, between Beowulf and King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins) left me only to imagine how beautiful it could have been had the actor's been emoting instead of their expressionless counterparts.
While the effects left me with such a mixed reaction to the film, the graphics creating Grendel and the other monsters Beowulf fights are rather impressive looking, and the action in those fight scenes makes you almost want to forget about how poorly the effects work for the rest of the film.
Therein lies that balance issue I already mwentioned. Is this an action-based fantasy or an epic fantasy narrative? Zemeckis and the script don't seem to have a clear answer to that question, which remains the ultimate flaw of the film. I wanted to like it as a whole instead of appreciating it for what lie just below that crystalline surface.