Early on in “Beowulf,” a sea creature swallows the epic’s hero, and for the briefest moment we fear the worst – until the warrior suddenly bursts out of the beast’s eye, thrusts his arms in the air and bellows, “I am Beowulf!”
This scene is indicative of Robert Zemeckis’s modern adaptation of the medieval Anglo-Saxon epic “Beowulf,” which casts the relatively unknown Ray Winstone as the hero. It is an exciting, swashbuckling and comical romp through the early Middle Ages.
The movie follows the Geat (think Swedish) captain Beowulf as he comes to the court of the Danish King Hrothgar, played by a jolly and sage Anthony Hopkins. His task is to rid the Danes’ mead hall of the ravaging demon Grendel, while simultaneously shaming his rival, Unferth, the incomparable John Malkovich, whose every word creeps under your skin. It is not giving too much away to say that Beowulf gains glory by killing Grendel in an impressive display of naked strength. The real story begins to unfold only after the demon’s death.
Once Grendel’s mother (the über-sexy Angelina Jolie) enters the picture, “Beowulf” officially becomes the experimental canvas for the fantastical strokes of writers Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary. Jolie’s role represents the Hollywood translation of an epic poem, as Grendel’s mother becomes the centerpiece for a love pentagon that is barely supported by the text.
English majors take heart, and the rest of you just keep watching, because this doesn’t change a thing. Despite the seductive sex goddess, Zemeckis never lets us lose sight of the most important thing: Beowulf is a badass.
J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote that despite the depth found in “Beowulf,” the epic centers on the monster battles. The movie stays true to that idea. Just as in the poem, the movie pits Beowulf against Grendel, Grendel’s mother and a dragon (fans of Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” take note), and we get to watch happily as the hero destroys all.
And interestingly, he does so digitally: “Beowulf” is done entirely in realistic CGI. It is most noticeable during the low-key feasting scenes, but once things get going, the action takes hold of you and you forget all about Beowulf’s digitized six-pack – a feature that you in fact become quite familiar with by the end of the movie, as Beowulf’s answer to any problem is to take off his clothes. Think “300” meets “The Full Monty.”
This combination ought to be enough to please any audience, but if intellectuals arrive with the expectation of watching something scholarly, the creators of “Beowulf” offer some additional food for thought. The film includes bits of Old English, an intriguing treatment of the emerging Christian faith within existing Norse culture, and Beowulf’s relationship with the Danish queen Wealhtheow (Robin Wright Penn) warrants a reference to Lancelot and Guinevere’s love affair. So while “Beowulf” is essentially about sex and fighting, those of you with smarter friends will still be able to enjoy a rousing discussion about things like the regional dialect of Hrothgar’s scop