Word: beowulf
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Michael Grendel: Slain by Beowulf in Sanders Theater, an act of epic poetic Justice...
...Similarly, Beowulf is a flawed hero. His bravery and resourcefulness in battle are unquestioned, but he's a bit too comfortable as his own legend-maker. In an attack by the Frisians, he humiliates one warrior but doesn't kill him; "Give him a gold piece and send him home. He has a story to tell." Before confronting Grendel, he strips himself naked. (Battling in the buff is a major motif this year, in 300 and Eastern Promises.) As Beowulf leaps from one end of the Hall to the other, the movie treats you to more cutesy-poo hide...
...widow but keeps a younger blond (Alison Lohman) on the side. And in his showdown with Grendma, he's simply out of his shallows. She appears to him drenched in gold, with high-heeled feet and nipples pert enough to hang a horseshoe on. When her hand touches Beowulf's sword, it turns to water, even as his resolve melts away at her caress. Ulysses may have resisted the sirens, but Beowulf's self-regard leads him to think he can bed Grendma and then best her. All of which leads to the illuminating observation that even a hero...
...kids aren't likely to parse the fine points of the script's psychology. They and their parents will be wowed by the battle scenes, a nifty sea-monster montage and Beowulf's climactic dogfight with a dragon. No question you lose a little character nuance in "character capture"; they don't look quite real. But the effects scenes look realer, more integrated into the visual fabric, because they meet the traced-over live-action elements halfway. It all suggests that this kind of a moviemaking is more than a stunt. By imagining the distant past so vividly, Zemeckis...
...Beowulf is a colorful pre-Christmas present...