"Beowulf"

[sergebroom]

We saw Zemeckis's Beowulf on Saturday night. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about turning into CGI versions of themselves the likes of Ray Winstone(1) as you-know-who, Anthony Hopkins as Hrothgar, Robin Wright Penn as his wife, and Angelina Jolie as Grendel's mother with the deadly tresse(2). There were times where the technique lacked realism, but even then it fitted in with the legendary feel of the script by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary. The story suffered a bit from the Krull Syndrome(3) and, after another wave of carnage of the local warriors by Grendel, I'd find myself wondering where they'd found the new batch of people to dine & wine in Hrothgar's Hall.

So?
Was it any good?
Well, I liked it(4).
Of course, your mileage may vary.

----------

(1) Remember him in the mid-1980s's cable show Robin of Sherwood?

(2) Yes, this is the second time I can think of her in a CGI movie. Or have you forgotten about Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow?

(3) From 1983's infamous fantasy movie Krull where a castle would be in the middle of nowhere without another habitation in the neighborhood, and without any field for peasants to be oppressed into taking care of.

(4) My wife thinks it's sadly symptomatic of the pitiful kind of person I am. Well, that's not really how she puts it, but I get the message. Sniff.

Comments

[tania-c.livejournal.com]

Krull Syndrome - perfect! I'm always troubled by a lack of good infrastructure, because, well, HOW WOULD THEY STAY FED???

I do have a degree in geography, and we worry about things like that.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Even the Lord of the Rings movies suffered a bit from that syndrome. The Riders of Rohan all seem to live in one village on top of a hill, but, while there's plenty of grass around, there are no fields for people to grow their own food. And where are the forges they'd need to make those elaborate armors of theirs? On the other hand, those movies were far better than the dreadful Krull so who cares, in this case?

[tania-c.livejournal.com]

Fiction as a whole tends to overlook infrastructure, unless it's being used a plot device. Waste disposal is a classic example.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Then again, do we want LoTR to deal with such... ah... matters?

[tania-c.livejournal.com]

Heck no! I do not need to see the latrines for massive hordes of orcs, thank you very much. And the fell beasts, the winged steeds of the Nazgul, I don't want to even think about what they eliminated and how much while flying through the air.

I don't want to read about it, but I sometimes want to have a sense that the author has thought about it. If that makes any sense...

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

The orcs use latrines?

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

They'd have to, unless Sauron was able to use his angelic powers to protect them from disease.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

As for who feeds those armies when they're on the march, they don't have cooks because they eat each other uncooked. Unless they annoy Smaug.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

*snort*

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

That's very true!

megakukobose.web.fc2.com

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