Angry British tough guy double matinee: 'Beowulf' and 'War'
Just got done watching "Beowulf," the Robert Zemeckis version with the photoanimation shizz. And I gotta say, it was pretty good. It's rousing action-adventure of ridiculous scale, and I like that when done well. The animation is definitely miles past "The Polar Express" but is still somewhat creepy. There were moments you forget it's animated, which is in part because there's so much computer animation in movies these days.
The movie wouldn't be anywhere near as good if not for the writing. Neil Gaiman and Roger Avery write a solid screenplay that puts in all the sex, drinking and murder back into the story. (Aside: the animation creepiness sets in when you see that they couldn't nail down the animation for swaying breasts. Wonder if the computer animators are used to seeing them, or not.)
The "Beowulf" poem has played a pivotal role in my life. I first read it in my 11th-grade English literature class. When asked about what's on the test, my teacher always said, "Everything." As my classmates all struggled to keep the main story and side stories straight (even the swords have stories), I found it easy. It felt very similar to comic books and keeping up with their continuities and backstories. I saw how easy it was for me to read, understand and remember "Beowulf." I started to think, maybe I should keep doing this literature stuff. Later in the course, when just about everyone flunked the test on "Dracula" while I pulled an A-, I was pretty sure I'd go study literature in college.
The movie sticks strongly to the story while making their own telling. It's great to work on something where you really can do what you want. And it becomes a gripping, exciting story despite the generic score that combines sword-and-sorcery surplus with a heavy-metal beat.
But the real movie is watching the making-of footage. Despite being computer-animated, they actually shot the thing on "the volume," a 25-foot-by-25-foot stage fulled with nearly 200 infrared cameras while actors and props are covered in motion-capture sensors. Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins and Robin Wright Penn in motion-capture body suits (they have barbershop-pole red and white stripes on the nether regions) and two dozen motion-cap dots on their faces. Production assistants holding shovels under horses wearing motion-cap dots, the shovels quickly filled with shit. Props made of fluorescent-colored wires instead of the real thing. Crispin Glover screaming, leaping through the soundstage and tearing apart tiny people-puppets with his hands and teeth. And, with all seriousness, Ray Winstone playing a dragon! This is the movie I really want to see. When Anthony Hopkins was working at the Royal National Theater 40 years ago, I doubt he imagined doing this stuff.
If they hadn't gotten Ray Winstone to play Beowulf, whose thick, raw British screaming is the equivalent of dynamiting a hurricane, then they could have gotten Jason Statham. I had avoided Statham movies, but I'm becoming a quick convert after seeing "The Bank Job." This may be the only good movie he has made, but in seeing ads for stuff like the "Transporter" movies and "Death Race," and after watching "War" today, I'm ready to strap in and feel the G's.
Patton Oswalt gave Statham a glowing review, saying that no Statham movie will be boring, and "if you give me $10, I will fuck an explosion while a Slayer song plays." He's fucking right. "War" is not good, and the plot is simple enough for kindergartners. But Statham is relentless. In one scene, he kills five Yakuza dudes in 20 seconds with his bare hands. In this movie he is up against Jet Li, who is only more relentless, and kills 10 dudes (including ninjas!) with hsi bare hands, a gun and a samurai sword.
If you want mindless, stupid action movies that escape our current Actors-playing-action-heroes (Matt Damon, Daniel Craig, Christian Bale), go for Statham. He delivers.
The movie wouldn't be anywhere near as good if not for the writing. Neil Gaiman and Roger Avery write a solid screenplay that puts in all the sex, drinking and murder back into the story. (Aside: the animation creepiness sets in when you see that they couldn't nail down the animation for swaying breasts. Wonder if the computer animators are used to seeing them, or not.)
The "Beowulf" poem has played a pivotal role in my life. I first read it in my 11th-grade English literature class. When asked about what's on the test, my teacher always said, "Everything." As my classmates all struggled to keep the main story and side stories straight (even the swords have stories), I found it easy. It felt very similar to comic books and keeping up with their continuities and backstories. I saw how easy it was for me to read, understand and remember "Beowulf." I started to think, maybe I should keep doing this literature stuff. Later in the course, when just about everyone flunked the test on "Dracula" while I pulled an A-, I was pretty sure I'd go study literature in college.
The movie sticks strongly to the story while making their own telling. It's great to work on something where you really can do what you want. And it becomes a gripping, exciting story despite the generic score that combines sword-and-sorcery surplus with a heavy-metal beat.
But the real movie is watching the making-of footage. Despite being computer-animated, they actually shot the thing on "the volume," a 25-foot-by-25-foot stage fulled with nearly 200 infrared cameras while actors and props are covered in motion-capture sensors. Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins and Robin Wright Penn in motion-capture body suits (they have barbershop-pole red and white stripes on the nether regions) and two dozen motion-cap dots on their faces. Production assistants holding shovels under horses wearing motion-cap dots, the shovels quickly filled with shit. Props made of fluorescent-colored wires instead of the real thing. Crispin Glover screaming, leaping through the soundstage and tearing apart tiny people-puppets with his hands and teeth. And, with all seriousness, Ray Winstone playing a dragon! This is the movie I really want to see. When Anthony Hopkins was working at the Royal National Theater 40 years ago, I doubt he imagined doing this stuff.
If they hadn't gotten Ray Winstone to play Beowulf, whose thick, raw British screaming is the equivalent of dynamiting a hurricane, then they could have gotten Jason Statham. I had avoided Statham movies, but I'm becoming a quick convert after seeing "The Bank Job." This may be the only good movie he has made, but in seeing ads for stuff like the "Transporter" movies and "Death Race," and after watching "War" today, I'm ready to strap in and feel the G's.
Patton Oswalt gave Statham a glowing review, saying that no Statham movie will be boring, and "if you give me $10, I will fuck an explosion while a Slayer song plays." He's fucking right. "War" is not good, and the plot is simple enough for kindergartners. But Statham is relentless. In one scene, he kills five Yakuza dudes in 20 seconds with his bare hands. In this movie he is up against Jet Li, who is only more relentless, and kills 10 dudes (including ninjas!) with hsi bare hands, a gun and a samurai sword.
If you want mindless, stupid action movies that escape our current Actors-playing-action-heroes (Matt Damon, Daniel Craig, Christian Bale), go for Statham. He delivers.