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Kevin Michael Vance
Writer - Portland, Oregon
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Title: BEOWULF AND GRENDEL
Director: Sturla Gunnarsson
Year: 2005
Reviewed: June 29, 2010
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Four Course Meal-Highest Rating |
[Rating Definitions]
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"Beowulf and Grendel" -- I truly and with much surprise thoroughly enjoyed this film. Therefore, I give it a FOUR COURSE MEAL review.
This movie was a total surprise. And to be honest I didn't even know it existed. Made two years before the horribly-realized C.G.I. fiasco of "Beowulf", by director Robert Zemeckis, and a year before Miller's immaturely wrought "300" (basically, before Gerard Butler became a HUGE movie star) it is a mystery as to how and why this movie did not do well. Sure it's a period piece set in a harsh and violent world of warring Danes and Geats and inexplicable monsters- trolls and sea hags to be exact- but there is a modern sense and tempo to the dialogue that does not, however, betray it's antiquated surroundings. The movie does not rifle along at breakneck speed, nor jump erratically and rapidly from scene to scene with five-second cuts in between, however, it moves purposefully and at its own lingering pace, and the panoramic scenes of "tree-less" Iceland are nothing short of magnificent. Sometimes the prosthetic suit for Grendel is a little less than perfect, and the Geats' wigs a little more than "Glam-rock", but anything beats a hackneyed C.G.I. version of the Troll any freakin' day, and Gerard Butler and Stellan Skarsgard deliver outstanding, understated, and controlled performances. The direction is wonderful, the cinematography outstanding, and the script- astonishingly clever without bringing attention to its inherent wit. This movie knows what it is, and revels in this knowledge. And the story is complicated, ambiguous, timeless, and unique.
If you like movies with an exceptional, timeless story, complicated characters that learn and grow as the story continues, and scenic vistas that seem to extend into infinity... you will not only like, but love "Beowulf and Grendel".
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