My excitement keeps moving back and forth for Beowulf. I wasn’t interested in the initial idea, then came word that this wasn’t just The Polar Express in the middle ages, although the two share the same animation technique. The first trailer actually piqued my interest. Beowulf looked cool, and a lot of that creepy CG motion-capture animation was absent. The notion that Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary scripted a movie that was intended to be PG-13 at the best (preferably R) was intriguing as well.
Now the red band trailer for Beowulf has arrived. Clearly this is for the international cut of the movie, since the American version will be PG-13. In the trailer is a more graphic fight with Grendel, Angelina Jolie’s character baring all, and… that creepy CG animation. That’s right. With nudity comes mediocrity. I’m not saying it isn’t great to see Angelina’s bare chest, but this is an animation and not quite the same thing as seeing the real Angelina naked.
Even sadder, the dialogue that probably should be inspiring, listing off all the titles Beowulf carries, feels like a rip-off of King Leonidas from this year’s 300. I sat in my chair waiting for him to shout “This! Is! Denmark!”
The trailer does have its upside. It’s a lot closer to the Beowulf most people will be familiar with, since most people who don’t study Literature are only familiar with the Geat’s battle with Grendel. We see Beowulf arrive in Denmark and offer to help Heorot with his… little problem. Then we hear what are probably the cries of Grendel’s mother after he loses his battle with Beowulf. Still no clear signs of that dragon though, the third major battle for Beowulf.
Take a look, courtesy of YouTube:
