Sidenote: I had a lot of issues watching this movie. I bought the movie brand new. I put it in the DVD player (which is a part of my 32 inch hdtv, mind you) and I get almost halfway through the movie, and it freezes! I can't fast forward through the freeze or anything. And the movie is BRAND NEW out of the case so I KNOW it's not a scratch. So I forget about the movie for a while, because it was kind of boring to me anyway up to that part. Plus I was sleepy, so I just went to bed.
That was about 5 days ago. So tonight I bought a new movie. "The Brave One" with Jodie Foster. I planned to watch it, but then I remembered that I ha unfinished business with Beowulf and company. So reluctantly, I go and get my independent dvd player and it works perfect. I resume watching the movie.
Ten minutes later, I was pissed off that I hadn't finished that movie 5 days ago. Turns out, that whole boredom thing? Yeah...no idea what I was talking about. This movie is a great addition to my collection.
"Sleeping With The Devil"
Say hello to Grendel's mother. She doesn't even have a name... but whatever...One of the things that attracted me to the movie in the first place was that I remembered Beowulf from English class. We would literally all sit around in senior English and ALL mutually agree that Beowulf was one bad mofo. It was unanimous. The thing I was concerned with was the translation from old school poetry to modern day computer effects.
Haha, sorry for the sarcasm. It worked out fine, as you can see.
In case you haven't been in an English class where this guy was required reading, Beowulf is basically a cocky, self-centered dude that thrives on making a name for himself by any means necessary. In those times, the best way to do it was to kill monsters, so that's what homie decides to do. He heard of a certain king named Hrothgar having technical difficulties with a demon named Grendel and he comes to their aid.
As you can imagine, the crap hits the fan very quickly, and a couple of plot twists abound, but nothing that deviates from the old English classic. If you haven't read the classic... enjoy the roller coaster of a movie!
The plot is great. The special effects/computer generated graphics/live-action style of Beowulf is something I think should be done more often for action movies. It worked flawlessly in this movie, and even the blood effects weren't overboard. Don't get it twisted by any means, this movie contains everything an R-rated movie needs, so it's not necessarily for kids.
The acting was good, and after a while you kind of forget who's voice is acting for who's character. The characters work for the movie (although Unferth comes off as more of a bandwagon hopper than an actual character....just like in the book) and there's no complaint from me in that area.
But I do have some complaints. This movie almost goes out of the way to show that it's not for kids, especially in the opening scene of partying, where characters are having sex and doing other things that would make Mooj from "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" proud. I don't think the movie needed to show that. The violent scenes had that covered in spades.
A weird complaint I had... I don't see anything about it in the books but I might be wrong... But the complaint that I had was that at LEAST 30 percent of the movie, Beowulf was naked.
I know it's a party, but I don't think he got the memo that crap happens when you party naked. First time naked? Grendel the demon crashes the party. 2nd time?
BOOM-CHIKA-WAH-WAAAAAH....That's code for "GI-NOURMOUS DRAGON."
Oh yeah. There's a dragon in the movie too. Forgot to mention that up top...my bad.
Overall, the movie was epic. If you like the story in any way, you will not be disappointed in this movie.
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Eljay's Snapshots
The only guy who can literally go up against Chuck Norris and possibly win...The Good: Beowulf's story isn't necessarily getting sung about around my part of town, but it's so fun to watch. This movie could've came out bad, but it didn't. They did this one right. Everything was great about the movie except for the scenes where they try to overdo it and prove to themselves that kids shouldn't watch the movie.
The Bad: Hinted on above, there were just a couple of random parts in the movie that WASN'T NECESSARY. One of those things being the fact that Beowulf thought he lived in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve because he never wore any freakin clothes. Dunno what the creators were thinking when they just made him go nude like that. At least they covered him up though...
The Interesting: Did you not see the words "GI-NOURMOUS DRAGON" printed above? Seriously, this thing is wow. And the action in this movie is great too.
Highlights of the Film:
This guy Grendel... he just seems kinda off, right?
"Welcome to the Movie!" - The first scene with Grendel. People DIE. This sets the tone for Beowulf to come in..."I AM BEOWULF!" - The first confrontation with Grendel and Beowulf.
(spoiler alert below)
(seriously, don't look if you don't want to know)
"Beowulf, You Are The Father" - Beowulf and the BIG FREAKING DRAGON that I keep talking about that turns out to be Beowulf's love child. The fight scene that follows.... on an epic scale of 1 - 10, this one easily amasses a critical balance of 32. This scene is AMAZING. Skip the rest of the movie if you want. Just watch this scene.
Final Thoughts:
The action scenes make this movie. If you have to, read the book and then just fast forward to the action scenes. But the whole movie is a direct port of the story (simplified, mind you) and it works very well.
Final Rating: 4 out of 5 Crowns
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