Movie: Beowulf (2007) rated PG-13

This CGI animated movie is not for kids. It’s also not for literature purists. But it is for adults who want an action movie with themes that go beyond the hero defeating the monster.

“It has nothing to do with the Beowulf that you were forced to read in junior high school. It’s all about eating, drinking, killing and fornicating.” -Director Robert Zemeckis

The movie makers start with the classic story of Beowulf battling Grendel, but make this hero into an unreliable narrator.” He tells the story as it was in the poem, but the scenes we see reveal the secrets of the king. He says Grendel’s mother has been killed, but her involvement in the power structure of the kingdom is more complicated.

I haven’t seen the other postmodern, reinterpretations of the ancient poem, but this one seems to focus on one aspect of human life, the point where you realize that your leaders aren’t really the heroes of their own myths. The king ascended to power through battle and his own “Glamour,” but also through unsavory associations and immoral sacrifices. This theme may resonate with people who study the American presidency. (Isn’t this the “Nixon” life journey marker for the 60s Flower Children—your president _is_ a crook?)

What is it in the human spirit that wants to believe in the Perfect Hero/King? Father longing? Even after we know our earthly leaders to be flawed—fatally flawed, we keep looking to the next savior.

P.S. [Spoiler] If you can allow sensual temptation as a part of stories you watch, go ahead with this movie. The movie makers have added plot twists and adult relationships to the hero/monster story. I think they did a good job. It’s not exactly Shakespeare, but it’s interesting.

[Spoiler, I really mean it.] So the big change from the original poem is that Beowulf does not kill the mother, but is seduced by her beauty and her promises of power. This is a twist that rivals, “Luke, I am your father,” since the previous throne holder made the same bargain with the devil. This movie provides a look at the price of power that went missing from the latter Star Wars movies. I guess Lucas had to keep it on a kid’s level. Oh Well.

This movie is saying, Grow Up, Kid. Heroes are people too.