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With equal measures of anticipation and trepidation I saw Beowulf this weekend. On one hand, Neil Gaiman and my favorite mythos ever. On the other hand, a sexed-up Grendel's mom and rumors of some extreme plot changes.
In the end, I rather liked it. It isn't the original story, no, but it isn't that far off. The CGI animation wasn't too distracting. They included the second half of the poem, which I don't think any other movie adaptation has ever done. They got Unferth's challenge of Beowulf and the sea monsters in, which is one of my favorite bits. The changes regarding Grendel's mom weren't as horrible as I feared, and it hung together pretty well. They even worked in some nice references to the greater context of when the poem was written down, the uneasy adaptation of pagan mythology into a Christian context. It is definitely my favorite movie adaptation so far.
The one big complaint I have is that, because of the changes made to the plot, the tone of the second half was radically changed. I missed the sense of an empire in slow collapse as its hero-king aged and the inevitable blood-feuds grew. There wasn't the sense of betrayal as the great warriors deserted Beowulf in the face of the dragon, or the sense of heroism as the unknown Wiglaf comes to Beowulf's aid. "So should a man be, a thane at need!" What they put in its place was quite good, and had some surprisingly nice nuance for an animated movie, but it just wasn't Beowulf.
P.S. IMAX 3D is way too much fun for a movie like this.
In the end, I rather liked it. It isn't the original story, no, but it isn't that far off. The CGI animation wasn't too distracting. They included the second half of the poem, which I don't think any other movie adaptation has ever done. They got Unferth's challenge of Beowulf and the sea monsters in, which is one of my favorite bits. The changes regarding Grendel's mom weren't as horrible as I feared, and it hung together pretty well. They even worked in some nice references to the greater context of when the poem was written down, the uneasy adaptation of pagan mythology into a Christian context. It is definitely my favorite movie adaptation so far.
The one big complaint I have is that, because of the changes made to the plot, the tone of the second half was radically changed. I missed the sense of an empire in slow collapse as its hero-king aged and the inevitable blood-feuds grew. There wasn't the sense of betrayal as the great warriors deserted Beowulf in the face of the dragon, or the sense of heroism as the unknown Wiglaf comes to Beowulf's aid. "So should a man be, a thane at need!" What they put in its place was quite good, and had some surprisingly nice nuance for an animated movie, but it just wasn't Beowulf.
P.S. IMAX 3D is way too much fun for a movie like this.