As a fan of Neil Gaiman’s works, I was quite intrigued with the release of his collaborative screenplay (with Roger Avary) Beowulf. How would Gaiman write up the epic poem, and most importantly, how would director Robert Zemeckis depict the Old English hero? The answers are simple: make an animated movie with a cast of talented actors that look almost nothing like their characters (save for Grendel’s mother, but we’ll get to that later).
For those who haven’t heard of the story of Beowulf and his fight against Grendel, you didn’t have to struggle through the text to be able to follow the plot. By the second half, the movie wasn’t anything like the actual poem. In fact, major differences can be found right and left, but that’s what happens when the movie tries to give you a mixture of John Gardner’s Grendel and the original poem at the same time. Then again, with Gaiman half responsible for the screenplay, those who are familiar with his works have already braced themselves for a slightly more riveting version.
Like the original story itself, the movie begins with a celebration after the creation of King Hrothgar’s (Anthony Hopkins) mead hall, Heorot. After hours of loud partying, the monster Grendel (Crispin Glover) rears its ugly head and interrupts the hall by killing everyone in sight, save for Hrothgar, his queen Wealtheow (Robin Wright Penn), and those who successfully managed to outmaneuver it. After sorting through the dead, Hrothgar calls on a hero for help in ridding his halls of the wretched monster.
Desiring the bait of money and glory, Beowulf (Ray Winstone) and his strong crew set forth to slay Grendel. It looks like a sure victory after Beowulf cuts off the arm of his foe and a significantly weakened Grendel stumbles back to its abode. But after witnessing her son’s death, Grendel’s vengeful mother (Angelina Jolie) sets out to kill all of Beowulf’s soldiers, except his right-hand man, Wiglaf (Brendan Gleeson), who was out when the attacks took place.
Seeking retribution, Beowulf heads to the cave to kill the remaining monster, with Hrothgar warning the hero not to get bewitched by the creature’s wiles. Unfortunately, with the form of a naked beautiful woman in front of him, Beowulf couldn’t resist. In a matter of five minutes of seductive persuasion from Grendel’s mother, Beowulf went from “slayer of monsters” to “monster’s slave.” Forming a pact with Grendel’s mother, Beowulf agreed to father her son if she promised him glory, power, and riches in the future. Before you knew it, the so-called hero returns to Hrothgar’s throne with the claim that the last monster was slain and provides Grendel’s head as proof that he indeed vanquished both mother and son (of course, the audience knew better). Attuned to the events beforehand, Hrothgar names Beowulf his successor to the throne, and immediately dies, making the proclamation official.
The writers couldn’t leave poor Beowulf well enough alone with his decision; they had to continue with his life years later, when his agreement with Grendel’s mother comes back to haunt him. After one of his villages was burnt by the appearance of a dragon, Beowulf encounters a mortally injured Unferth (John Malkovich), advisor to Hrothgar. Unferth had encountered the dragon, telling Beowulf that the new monster was here to rectify “the sins of the father.” This ominous line becomes more apparent when the audience realizes that the monsters were birthed from the union of Grendel’s mother and mortal men. The fight with the dragon serves as Beowulf’s redemption, and like the end of the epic, the story is left with Wiglaf. Unfortunately, by the end of the movie, there was still the mother to deal with.
It’s difficult to comment on the acting of characters whose facial expressions you can barely make out in an animation. Perhaps the most realistic looking figure came from Angelina Jolie’s monster character, who looked so uncannily like her that it almost was a live action movie. The most amusement I had with the movie, however, was from Jolie’s come-hither presence, which gave the movie the recurring theme of “seductress monster inheriting the earth.” The open-ended final scenes became frustrating. After two hours, Zemeckis could have at least given a resolution.
