Oi, Grendel! No!!
We'd just finished making a dent in the Christmas shopping list in Norwich, and we were at a bit of a loose end, so we decided to go see a film at Castle Mall. The only thing that was on at a suitable time was "Beowulf"...
...which I actually rather enjoyed. The computer graphics were incredibly impressive, they've almost perfected making things look genuinely real, except for something about the eyes that gave everyone a slightly dead mannequin-like quality.
Being a complete philistine, I've never bothered to read the original epic poem (for one thing I suspect it doesn't even rhyme!) so I can't comment on how accurate Neil Gaiman's adaptation of it was. There were some elements that reminded me of Gaiman's novels, but that might be more due to Beowulf's influence on Gaiman's work rather that vice-versa.
There was some humour, both intentional and unintentional. I can't imagine that the fact Grendel's mum's slinky nearly-nude molten gold outfit came with integral stilettos was accidentally funny. But I think maybe the creators didn't expect Ray Winstone's cockney geezer growl coming out of the buff toned body of a legendary Scandinavian hero to be quite so amusing. For one thing Beowulf looked absolutely nothing like Ray, whereas nearly all of the other film avatars looked almost identical to their actor counterparts. Also, I kept expecting Ray to throw in some classic cockney hard-man lines.
"Shut it Unferth, you slaaaaaag!"
...which I actually rather enjoyed. The computer graphics were incredibly impressive, they've almost perfected making things look genuinely real, except for something about the eyes that gave everyone a slightly dead mannequin-like quality.
Being a complete philistine, I've never bothered to read the original epic poem (for one thing I suspect it doesn't even rhyme!) so I can't comment on how accurate Neil Gaiman's adaptation of it was. There were some elements that reminded me of Gaiman's novels, but that might be more due to Beowulf's influence on Gaiman's work rather that vice-versa.
There was some humour, both intentional and unintentional. I can't imagine that the fact Grendel's mum's slinky nearly-nude molten gold outfit came with integral stilettos was accidentally funny. But I think maybe the creators didn't expect Ray Winstone's cockney geezer growl coming out of the buff toned body of a legendary Scandinavian hero to be quite so amusing. For one thing Beowulf looked absolutely nothing like Ray, whereas nearly all of the other film avatars looked almost identical to their actor counterparts. Also, I kept expecting Ray to throw in some classic cockney hard-man lines.
"Shut it Unferth, you slaaaaaag!"
Hurrah! :0)
I thought it was brilliant and was pleased to hear a bit of the anglo-saxon version of it (though I don't understand it...). No harm with a little creative retelling for a 21st Century mass audience
ps to quote Miss Minogue "i'm in Lurve, I'm in Lurve..."
Obscura
Elayne
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