Beowulf

Category: Movies

... or Behr-wolf, is one of our old, forgotten super-heroes come to the fore, sans spandex, but dripping testosterone (comparable to King Leonidas, remember?) out of unbelievably tight skin, starring in the movie of the moment. Still, I couldn't help but compare with "300", which preceded it in this new genre (of semi-animated , action saga) and find it not to measure up. Yup, and John Malkovich, notwithstanding.

Certainly, it is a great story to be told and in fact, you immediately get into the play of archetypes and the consequent dynamics -- egotistical man, martyr wife, seductress other woman/domineering mother, puerile spoiled brat monster, so what have we, but a story of love and betrayal, pride and shame, strength and vulnerability, victory and regret, and certainly enough material to bring forth to life the characters, actually impressively represented by the finest actors, except for one noticeable flaw -- a glitch in hi-tech animation resulting in 'deadened, soulless eyes'. According to one review, the movie is 'only the beta version of the blockbuster of the future'. And there it failed.

I would always take Anthony Hopkins straight up and not stylized that way. Moreso John Malkovich. I mean, how could Angelina Jolie manage to look melancholic and lifeless, even while dripping in gold and menacing tentacles (unless it was the intention, which I think resulted in ineffective acting)? I dont know, I thought it didn't work like that.

Which is not to say I was not amazed by the movie, or this epic poem, the oldest piece of narrative work in the English language. Surely I wouldn't have been able to get most of it, if not for the help of Neil Gaiman. However, one does feel a connection here with the old, for even back in the days of the 10th century when some unknown scribes have collaborated on this work that we come to know today, we find that people operated on the most primitive of motives -- driven by appetite for food, gold and sex (not necessarily in that order), always resulting in the same ending. With the deathly consequence of sin and someone having to die to rectify the wrong.

And some things never change.