Most of us only ever encounter Beowulf in the confines of English class; teachers treat it with reverence while most of the kids in the class role their eyes and just learn enough of the symbolism and mythology to pass the test. It’s the language’s oldest surviving tale, an epic poem from which all subsequent epics have been inspired. It’s kind of fitting then that Beowulf should find its way to the burgeoning medium of 3-D, motion capture animation, and who better than 3-D CG pioneer Robert Zemeckis to take it there.



To be sure, this Beowulf is immaculate to look at; absolutely spiffy and I’m sure it’s only better in IMAX 3-D projection (sadly, I only saw it in a regular old 2-D theatre). The story follows the titular hero (Ray Winstone) as he arrives by sea to a northern kingdom where the King (Anthony Hopkins) and his people are being plagued by the monster known as Grendel (Crispin Glover). Beowulf confronts and defeats the monster but the looming threat of Grendel’s demon mother (Angelina Jolie) prompts Beowulf to seek her out and defeat evil once and for all.



Scholars will surely note that the script by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary sometimes ventures far from its source material. This Beowulf is a flawed hero capable of tremendous feats of courage as well as tremendous feats of hubris. One definitely detects a sense of jingoism in this Beowulf, a definite flex of extreme testosterone that owes a lot to Zack Snyder’s Red Bull fuelled rush of ancient history in 300. “I am Beowulf!” may as well be the new “Tonight we dine in Hell!” for its macho, don’t-mess-with-me delivery.



And there’s nothing more macho than striping off all your armour to fight a monster troll mano-a-mano. Yes sir, Beowulf isn’t even wearing a scowl. Hardcore to be sure, but the scene is filled with so many incidental censorship, never revealing the hero’s “naughty bits” you’d swear that you were watching the opening sequence to The Spy Who Shagged Me.



Reversely though, the grace of God and some gold paint are all that keeps you from getting the full Jolie. The whole thing just struck me as a bad example of the ongoing double standard in Hollywood of how male nudity is scandal while female nudity is titillating.



The realism of the animation is rather impressive, but it still has a long way to go. The glassy stare of the characters is still as soulless as the day I saw Final Fantasy The Spirits Within. The motion capture is amazing Anthony Hopkins looks like Anthony Hopkins and Angelina Jolie definitely looks like Angelina Jolie. Individual hairs sway in the wind, every ripple of water is immaculately constructed, and the detail on clothes and props is extraordinary. But still there are times when movements are clunky and robotic. And I think that the 3-D effect in a 2-D environment doesn’t translate all that well.



Beowulf is a remarkable achievement in the end, a technical marvel deserving of being experienced on the big screen. For the most part, it is well acted and it is a terrific looking film, but some of the story elements are week and I think the attempt to make Beowulf a more flawed hero just resulted in making the story itself flawed. Regardless, it’s a great popcorn movie that’s taking this ground-breaking technology a giant leap forward in its development.