I have no idea how to feel about them putting heels on Grendel's mommy |
Watched: 03/26/2024
Format: Paramount+
Viewing: First
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Selection: Me
When Beowulf (2007) was released, all it did was make me feel guilty I'd never read the book. I never had it as a class assignment, and despite owning a copy, I just never prioritized it. However, it would still be 2023 before I finally got around to blowing through what is a quick read via audiobook.
But then I forgot to watch the movie, which I have now finally taken care of.
First: I had no idea the whole movie was animated - I'd only heard about animated, naked Angelina Jolie which is a YMMV proposition.
Once I figured out Robert "Polar Express CGI Nightmare Fuel" Zemeckis was in charge of this venture, I settled in.
Look, I'm not a Norse Mythology scholar. Nothing close to it. Neil Gaiman, one of the two screenwriters on the film (the other being Roger Avary) is, actually, a Norse Mythology scholar, so I bow to him on the many and significant changes he made to the brief story. I don't know what his motivation was, but it's a re-shaping of the story that has an impact on the sparse themes and point-of-view of the original poem. Which is a fair thing to do with a text that's about a 1000+ years old. And it's highly unlikely the version we've been handed down was anything like the original 500 or so oral-tradition tellings of the story.