movie review of beowulf

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In the name of the mighty Odin, what this movie needs is an audience that knows how to laugh. Laugh, I tell you, laugh! Has the spirit of irony been lost in the land? By all the gods, if it were not for this blasted infirmity that the Fates have dealt me, you would have heard from me such thunderous roars as to shake the very Navy Pier itself down to its pillars in the clay.

To be sure, when I saw "Beowulf" in 3-D at the giant-screen IMAX theater, there were eruptions of snickers here and there, but for the most part, the audience sat and watched the movie, not cheering, booing, hooting, recoiling, erupting or doing anything else unmannerly. You expect complete silence and rapt attention when a nude Angelina Jolie emerges from the waters of an underground lagoon. But am I the only one who suspects that the intention of director Robert Zemeckis and writers Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary was satirical?

Truth in criticism: I am not sure Angelina Jolie was nude. Oh, her character was nude, all right, except for the shimmering gold plating that obscured certain crucial areas, but was she Angelina Jolie? Zemeckis, who directed the wonderful " The Polar Express ," has employed a much more realistic version of the same animation technology in "Beowulf." We are not looking at flesh-and-blood actors but special effects that look uncannily convincing, even though I am reasonably certain that Angelina Jolie does not have spike-heeled feet. That's right: feet, not shoes.

The movie uses the English epic poem, circa 700 A.D., as its starting point, and resembles the original in that it uses a lot of the same names. It takes us to the Danish kingdom of King Hrothgar ( Anthony Hopkins ), where the king and his court have gathered to inaugurate a new mead hall, built for the purpose of drinking gallons of mead. The old hall was destroyed by the monster Grendel, whose wretched life consists of being the ugliest creature on earth, and destroying mead halls.

To this court comes the heroic Geatsman named Beowulf ( Ray Winstone ), who in the manner of a Gilbert & Sullivan hero is forever making boasts about himself. He is the very model of a medieval monster slaughterer. (A Geatsman comes from an area of today's Sweden named Gotaland, which translates, Wikipedia helpfully explains, as "land of the Geats.") When the king offers his comely queen Wealthow ( Robin Wright Penn) as a prize if Beowulf slays Grendel, the hero immediately strips naked, because if Grendel wears no clothes, then he won't, either. This leads to a great deal of well-timed Austinpowerism, which translates (Wikipedia does not explain) as "putting things in the foreground to keep us from seeing the family jewels." Grendel arrives on schedule to tear down the mead hall, and there is a mighty battle which is rendered in gory and gruesome detail, right down to cleaved skulls and severed limbs.

Now when I say, for example, that Sir Anthony plays Hrothgar, or John Malkovich plays Beowulf's rival Unferth, you are to understand that they supply voices and the physical performances for animated characters who look more or less like they do. ( Crispin Glover , however, does not look a thing like Grendel, and if you are familiar with the great British character actor Ray Winstone you will suspect he doesn't have six-pack abs.) Variety reports that Paramount has entered "Beowulf" in the Academy's best animated film category, which means nothing is really there, realistic as it may occasionally appear. I saw the movie in IMAX 3-D, as I said, and like all 3-D movies it spends a lot of time throwing things at the audience: Spears, blood, arms, legs, bodies, tables, heads, mead, and so forth. The movie is also showing in non-IMAX 3-D, and in the usual 2-D. Not bad for a one-dimensional story.

But I'm not complaining. I'm serious when I say the movie is funny. Some of the dialog sounds like Monty Python. No, most of the dialog does. "I didn't hear him coming," a wench tells a warrior. "You'll hear me," he promises. Grendel is ugly beyond all meaning. His battles are violent beyond all possibility. His mother (Jolie) is like a beauty queen in centerfold heaven. Her own final confrontation with Beowulf beggars description. To say the movie is over the top assumes you can see the top from here.

Now about the PG-13 rating. How can a movie be rated PG-13 when it has female nudity? I'll tell you how. Because Angelina Jolie is not really there. And because there are no four-letter words. Even Jolie has said she's surprised by the rating; the British gave it a 12A certificate, which means you can be a year younger and see it over there. But no, Jolie won't be taking her children, she told the BBC: "It's remarkable it has the rating it has. It's quite an extraordinary film, and some of it shocked me."

Here's the exact wording from the MPAA's Code people: " Classified PG -13 (for intense sequences of violence including disturbing images, some sexual material and nudity)." How does that compare with a PG rating? Here's the MPAA's wording on " Bee Movie ": "Classified PG (for mild suggestive humor and a brief depiction of smoking)." I have news for them. If I were 13, Angelina Jolie would be plenty nude enough for me in this movie, animated or not. If I were 12 and British, who knows?

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Beowulf (2007)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence including disturbing images, some sexual material and nudity

115 minutes

John Malkovich as Unferth

Crispin Glover as Grendel

Ray Winstone as Beowulf

Angelina Jolie as Grendel's mother

Anthony Hopkins as Hrothgar

Brendan Gleeson as Wiglaf

Directed by

• Robert Zemeckis
• Neil Gaiman
• Roger Avary

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‘beowulf’: film review.

What have they done to Beowulf, everyone’s least favorite Old English epic about a hero’s battles with a monster, the monster’s mother and an annoying dragon who turns up 50 years later? Director Robert Zemeckis not only deploys 21st century movie technology at its finest to turn the heroic poem into a vibrant, nerve-tingling piece […]

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A digital Ray Winstone as Beowulf in the 2007 movie of the same name.

What have they done to Beowulf , everyone’s least favorite Old English epic about a hero’s battles with a monster, the monster’s mother and an annoying dragon who turns up 50 years later?

Director Robert Zemeckis not only deploys 21st century movie technology at its finest to turn the heroic poem into a vibrant, nerve-tingling piece of pop culture, but his film actually makes sense of Beowulf . In Zemeckis ‘ hands, it’s an intriguing look at a hero as a flawed human being.

The Bottom Line An intriguing look at a hero as a flawed human being.

Remember in Annie Hall  when Woody Allen advised Diane Keaton, “Just don’t take any class where you have to read ‘Beowulf'”? As multitudes stand in long lines to see this movie, many may indeed be reading “Beowulf,” if only to relish what Zemeckis & Co. have accomplished. In any event, those lines should last through year’s end.

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There are two sets of heroes here. One is the writing team of author/graphic novelist Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary (the nearly forgotten other writer of Pulp Fiction ). They have genuinely solved the structural problem of the poem, written around 700 A.D. The link between the early battles of a young hero and his fatal confrontation with the dragon as an aging king is his temptation by the monster’s mother who dangles wealth, power and sexual favors before his bedazzled eyes. Makes sense — Beowulf’s sins come back to haunt him.

The other heroes are Zemeckis’ “performance capture” and 3-D animation teams, who digitally enhance the bare-bones live action into a beguiling other world brimming with vitality. This new technique, which Zemeckis broke ground with in the visually impressive though dramatically weak The Polar Express , comes to full fruition in Beowulf , where myth becomes vigorous flesh.

Beowulf  tells of a young warrior, Beowulf (Ray Winstone), who emerges out of a raging storm in a Viking ship to rescue a Danish kingdom ruled by old King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins) and his beauteous queen Wealthow (Robin Wright Penn). The monster Grendel (Crispin Glover), angered by the noise of singing and drinking in Hrothgar’s great hall, has butchered many warriors.

Grendel is a thing of horrific beauty. He looks like a mummy with a contagious disease. He’s a slobbering, puss-filled, bloody, drooling, hideously deformed giant with a lop-sided face and rotting teeth that can barely chew a man’s head.

Knowing no weapon will defeat this monster, Beowulf sheds his clothes and waits for the next attack. In an epic battle, Beowulf rips off Grendel’s arm. The now whimpering bully limps home to his mother’s lair to die.

Grendel’s mother (Angelina Jolie) takes revenge by attacking the hall following a night of celebration. She strings up the corpses of all of Beowulf’s men save for his trusted lieutenant, Wiglaf (Brendan Gleeson).

Presented a sword by Unferth (John Malkovich), who initially doubted Beowulf’s resolve, Beowulf enters the mother’s grotto with its eerie lake. But rather than battle Beowulf, the mother sets out to seduce him, as she did Hrothgar years before.

Zemeckis is not afraid to indulge in moments of camp. Jolie’s golden and nude temptress with a devil’s tail strides toward her adversary in high heels! Grendel’s whimpering about the Big Bad Man who tore off his arm reveals a pathetic mama’s boy. The hero’s constant assertion “I am Beowulf!” and Wiglaf’s equally frequent refrain “You are Beowulf!” cry out for a Saturday Night Live  skit.

But here lies Zemeckis’ keen pop sensibility. He means to avoid Woody Allen’s Beowulf  by tapping into both the Lord of the Rings  crowd and Knocked Up enthusiasts. The gruesome violence and male and female near nudity — about as bold as a PG-13 rating will allow — mixed together with ribald humor make Beowulf a waggish bit of postmodern fun. It may raise the eyebrows of English Lit professors but will quicken the pulse of everyone else.

Beowulf  will roll out in the largest 3-D release of any film to date, including Imax 3D. While 2-D prints will certainly play well, Zemeckis has brilliantly designed the movie for 3-D, creating a strong depth of field and action in the fore, middle and back grounds in his more complex shots. Figures do blur slightly with heavy action or quick camera pans, but audiences will experience total immersion into the world of Beowulf  best in 3-D.

BEOWULF Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. present in association with Shangri-La Entertainment an ImageMovers production Credits: Director: Robert Zemeckis Screenwriters: Neil Gaiman, Roger Avary Producers: Steve Starkey, Robert Zemeckis, Jack Rapke Executive producers: Martin Shafer, Roger Avary, Neil Gaiman Director of photography: Robert Presley Production designer: Doug Chiang Music: Alan Silvestri Costume designer: Gabriella Pescucci Editor: Jeremiah O’Driscoll Cast: Beowulf: Ray Winstone King Hrothgar: Anthony Hopkins Queen Wealthow: Robin Wright Penn Wiglaf: Brendan Gleeson Grendel: Crispin Glover Grendel’s mother: Angelina Jolie Running time — 115 minutes MPAA rating: PG-13

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Beowulf Reviews

The characters up on screen seem like living, breathing people.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 6, 2019

Expectedly, there are large-scale, edge-of-the seat clashes and some classic savage scenes. There are other interesting touches and some quirky emotions. It's a philosophical play on what it means to be a warrior.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 25, 2019

Avary and Gaiman lay on the sexual innuendo and adultery, fleshing out the character of Beowulf into a believably unreliable narrator.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 3, 2018

Full Review | Original Score: B | Feb 18, 2012

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 17, 2011

It's a superb action flick that will have you wide-eyed in awe at its effects; just don't go expecting any kind of literary discussion.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 14, 2011

Beowulf is a well conceived and technically excellent rendition of the ancient legend, but it doesn't follow its ideas through all the way, and some strange choices on the part of Zemeckis ultimately make it a little less than the sum of its parts.

Full Review | Original Score: 6.5/10 | Jan 7, 2011

Beowulf is pretty to look at, but lacks soul. Perhaps it is time for Robert Zemeckis to return to the land of the living.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jul 7, 2010

The Old English poem ponderously, gracelessly expanded into an epic bore

Full Review | Aug 25, 2009

It drops its epic posture and spews far too many double entendres.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 23, 2009

700 A.D. is now 21st Century American 3-D. It's a hell of a transformation. The 3-D version of Beowulf -- the one you must see if you see the film -- is a wild roller coaster ride.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.0/5 | Feb 2, 2009

...the initially impressive visuals are ultimately negated by the annoyance of the technology.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 18, 2008

A worthy cinematic adaptation, with interesting and provocative mythic ideas of its own, and suprisingly lyrical images to match. [Blu-Ray]

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 11, 2008

The bane of English majors for 1,300 years makes it back to the big screen, now with 75 percent more hostility toward Christianity!

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 7, 2008

The story contains plenty of action and great-looking graphics, but it hasn't much heart.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Jul 28, 2008

Throw on your 3-D glasses and prepare to have your mind blown away.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | May 20, 2008

Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf is so rousingly entertaining that you'll feel guilty for not reading the epic poem all the way through when you were in ninth grade.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | May 1, 2008

So much is right about Beowulf that one longs for the darker, grimier version that might have been in live action.

Full Review | Apr 3, 2008

Robert Zemeckis' take on Beowulf is a marvel visually but eye-popping effects are still no challenge for good old-fashioned human emotion.

Full Review | Mar 10, 2008

At the end of it all, if you take away the violence, the defiantly in-your-face nudity, and Angelina Jolie, you will find very little story underneath.

Beowulf Review

16 Nov 2007

114 minutes

When Robert Zemeckis announced, a few years back, that he was going to stop directing live-action and instead dedicate himself to performance/motion capture technology (where actors work on a bare soundstage, and are digitally painted over; it’s essentially rotoscoping’s flashy cousin), it was hard not to think that one of Hollywood’s finest was wasting his time and talent, fiddling with toys when he should be making ‘proper’ movies. It didn’t help that his first stab, 2004’s The Polar Express, was a saccharine affair, peopled by dead-eyed zombie-esque characters - even though it was sometimes visually ingenious. But with Beowulf, an astonishing, sumptuous 3D epic, it’s clear that Zemeckis, the great innovator, knew what he was doing all along. Bob, if you’re reading, we’re sorry we doubted you.

Beowulf is, simply, the finest example to date of the mo-capabilities of this new technique. A 2D version is on release, but we strongly suggest that you watch this wearing a pair of silly glasses. Previously, 3D movies were blurry, migraine-inducing affairs. Beowulf is a huge step forward, with a depth and clarity of vision that is deeply immersive, while Zemeckis largely resists the urge for gratuitous look-at-me compositions (only once, when a character flings coins at the camera, are we taken back to the gimmicky bad old days of Jaws 3D days) in favour of subtle choreography of action scenes that instantly embed you in the action.

The story of Beowulf - the oldest tale in the English language - inspired The Lord of the Rings, yet Zemeckis has fashioned a fantasy flick a world away from that scale. That’s not to say that there aren’t fantastic and hugely ambitious action scenes, the third act showdown between Beowulf and a vengeful dragon is the stuff of instant classics, starting with a truly clever reveal and then swooping, vertiginously, over treetops, through volleys of arrows, and into tumultuous surf. But, on the whole, Beowulf is a curiously intimate epic, largely confined to three locations, and focusing firmly on its title character.

Only mocap could turn the portly, 50-something Ray Winstone into a buff demigod and - in the third act, which takes place years later, and which is composed of muted colours and a near-tangible sense of loss, guilt and regret - a buff demigod with wrinkles and white hair. Zemeckis didn’t cast Winstone for his six-pack; he cast him for his gruff vulnerability. Although his Cockney accent initially seems incongruous as he bellows lines like ‘I will kill your mon-STAH!’ as if he were still hefting a sock filled with snooker balls, Winstone’s turn ultimately reveals a burgeoning humanity and poignant humility as Beowulf finally realises what it takes to be a true hero. It’s in this performance that you see why Zemeckis has flipped for mocap, it’s a technique that allows him to nourish the heart and soul of the audience, while overwhelming their eyes with indelible images.

Beowulf isn’t perfect. It’s at times too austere and po-faced, and while the likes of Hopkins as the tortured Hrothgar and Jolie, playing Grendel’s mother as a vengeful and excruciatingly sexy siren, lend Winstone admirable support, John Malkovich (as Beowulf’s human nemesis, Unferth) is so hammy that you begin to wonder why Zemeckis didn’t just capture someone else’s performance. But as a glimpse into the future of movies, Beowulf is just the beginning, and that’s incredibly exciting.

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Common sense media reviewers.

Violent animated adventure is no kiddie movie.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

The message seems to be that men are all-too-easil

Grendel -- a disturbing, oozing, pus-filled sight

Lots of sexual innuendo and partial nudity (it'

Milder than the rest of the film: "damn,&quot

The Danes and their visiting mercenaries drink a l

Parents need to know that although this adventure is animated, it's not aimed at kids. Some people may misinterpret the fact that it was created by the same filmmakers responsible for The Polar Express as an automatic thumbs-up for kids. But the considerable violence and sexual innuendo are comparable to…

Positive Messages

The message seems to be that men are all-too-easily seduced by beauty and the promise of power.

Violence & Scariness

Grendel -- a disturbing, oozing, pus-filled sight in and of himself -- kills mostly at random. He impales victims, snaps necks, rips off heads and eats them, tears people in two, throws men into fires, squishes heads, etc. Most of the violence is fast, but there's still a great deal of it. Beowulf dismembers Grendel's arm after a long hand-to-hand battle. Grendel's mother kills almost an entire group of warriors, who are shown as shadowy, bloody figures hanging from ceiling beams. Beowulf battles an angry, murderous dragon. Beowulf's army slaughters its enemies on the battlefield.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Lots of sexual innuendo and partial nudity (it's animated, but the animation is very realistic). Beowulf strips completely naked in preparation to fight Grendel. Various people and items conveniently obscure his genitals, but his bare buttocks are shown several times during the fight. The drunk king wears a robe that half falls off; a buxom woman's cleavage is shown heaving and jiggling. Later she's propositioned by one of Beowulf's warriors, who says things like "my loins are burning" and that he won't be quiet when he comes. A bare-shouldered woman and soldier share a sleeping bag. The king demands his queen produce an heir; Beowulf has a younger mistress in addition to his wife. Grendel's mom can take the form of a gorgeous woman (Angelina Jolie) who emerges dripping wet and naked from the water.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Milder than the rest of the film: "damn," "hell," etc.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

The Danes and their visiting mercenaries drink a lot of mead in the mead hall. Some men are so drunk that they pass out on the table.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that although this adventure is animated, it's not aimed at kids. Some people may misinterpret the fact that it was created by the same filmmakers responsible for The Polar Express as an automatic thumbs-up for kids. But the considerable violence and sexual innuendo are comparable to the content of popular live-action flick 300 . As those familiar with the ancient epic poem the movie is based on know, Beowulf defeats the monstrous Grendel ... but not before Grendel kills a lot of innocent people in disgusting, harrowing ways. The violence includes dismemberment, impalement, bashed heads, people being eaten alive, and more. Animated or not, it can be hard to watch (even more so in 3D, an option that some theaters are offering). To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (13)
• Kids say (19)

Based on 13 parent reviews

Great animation, mediocre story adaptation

My parents made me watch this with them when i was 9, what's the story.

Based on the epic poem, Robert Zemeckis' motion-capture action adventure follows the heroic exploits of Beowulf ( Ray WinstoneAnthony Hopkins ) get rid of a murderous demon cursing his people. After disposing of the grotesque, pus-oozing Grendel ( Crispin Glover ) in a (literally) naked battle of hand-to-hand combat, Beowulf learns that the monster has an even more dangerous, shape-shifting mother ( Angelina Jolie ). Beowulf's hubris as a warrior is evident from his first appearance on screen. But every hero has an Achilles' heel, and Beowulf's is apparently a beautiful woman -- the perfectly cast Jolie -- who promises him wealth and power beyond imagination. Beowulf isn't the first warrior to give into her, and he probably won't be the last, either, since she's seemingly invincible when nude and dripping wet (her feet even take the form of stilettos).

Is It Any Good?

Once you get past BEOWULF's slightly creepy, ultra-realistic depiction of actors as animated figures, there's no denying that this film is entertaining. Improving on the revolutionary technology he used in The Polar Express , Zemeckis's film is an awe-inspiring achievement in animation. It's also in no way a film for kids, even if that's the first thought that many moviegoers might have when they see animated characters. The action is as bloody as anything Quentin Tarantino could conjure up.

Yet, for all of the movie's sweeping action and impressive technology, there's still something substantially more heart-quickening about flesh-and-blood action. Sure, then audiences wouldn't get to see Grendel squish as many heads and eat as many people (at least not in a PG-13 fashion), but there would've been an extra sense of excitement and not as many unintended laughs.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about whether it's confusing for filmmakers to make and market an animated movie that's so violent and clearly not targeted to kids? Also, does the fact that the animation is so realistic make the violence more upsetting? Why or why not? Why do people tend to react differently to live-action mayhem than they do to similar content that's animated?

Movie Details

• In theaters : November 15, 2007
• On DVD or streaming : March 15, 2022
• Cast : Angelina Jolie , Anthony Hopkins , Ray Winstone
• Director : Robert Zemeckis
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Paramount Pictures
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Run time : 113 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : intense sequences of violence including disturbing images, some sexual material and nudity.
• Last updated : April 18, 2024

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Beowulf (United States, 2007)

The legend of Beowulf , a mythical hero whose exploits were recounted in an 8th century epic poem, has gained unprecedented popularity some 1250 years after it was first told. With the success of The Lord of the Rings , which (along with the Harry Potter phenomenon) opened Hollywood's eyes to the potentially huge audience for big, bold fantasy movies, the inevitability of productions like this became established. Still, it's surprising that Beowulf has attracted so much attention, with three films released in recent years and another one on the way. Of all the cinematic variations on the theme, however, none is more ambitious and over-the-top than this one, the brainchild of director Robert Zemeckis and his screenwriters, Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman.

Beowulf is designed first and foremost as a visual spectacle of the first degree. Judged in those terms, it is a resounding success. Whether viewed in 3-D (the preferred way to experience it) or in a conventional theater, this is the sort of movie where the viewer can sit back and become immersed in the splendor of a wild, savage, colorful world. The movie opens up vistas previously undreamed of, providing viewers with a land that rivals the imagination-fueled panoramas of Middle Earth, Hogwarts, and 300 's ancient Sparta. As eye candy goes, it's tough to find something more satisfying in theaters these days.

Beowulf is animated, but it employs what's commonly referred to as "photorealistic animation," which means that the characters in the movie look almost human. Their features resemble (to one degree or another) the actors who provide the voices. Zemeckis has used this technique before, in The Polar Express , but it still needs polishing. There's something a little eerie, bordering on unsettling, about seeing familiar faces rendered this way. There's no doubt that it gives the filmmakers unparalleled creative freedom - they can age characters without requiring makeup, allow modest performers to do "nude scenes" without taking off a stitch of clothing, and reduce the complexities of special effects that require the mixing of live-action and CGI. However, the human beings have a somewhat "waxy" look and their eyes, supposedly the windows to the soul, are more often dead than alive. An almost indefinable emotional element is thereby lost.

The story lacks neither scope nor complexity, relying on the ancient poem for its basic structure and embellishing shamelessly. Holes are plugged and new avenues explored. Attempts are made at character development, but they aren't entirely successful. While it's true that the Beowulf on screen during the final reel is not the same man we see at the beginning, this is not an individual we become emotionally attached to. Maybe it's because the visuals of Beowulf so resemble those of a top-flight computer game, but the film often feels more like something that's trying to bring an almost interactive experience to the big screen. Character identification - a key element of any complete motion picture experience - is limited in Beowulf .

The film opens in 6th century Denmark, in the mead hall of King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins). As the warriors feast and get drunk and the king and his young queen (Robin Wright Penn) look on appreciatively, the revelry becomes more exuberant. That's when tragedy strikes. The ugly troll-like monster Grendel (Crispin Glover) breaks into the hall and begins a slaughter. When he is done, many of Hrothgar's men are dead and the king sends out a summons for heroes to face Grendel. He offers half his treasury as a reward. Beowulf (Ray Winstone), a great warrior from Greatland (part of Sweden), arrives to battle Grendel. Driven more by a lust for glory than a lust for gold, Beowulf boasts of what he will do to the monster. He doesn't have to wait long for the encounter. During his first night enjoying Hrothgar's hospitality, Beowulf's slumber is interrupted by Grendel's arrival.

Beowulf purists, and I'm sure there are such people, may be chagrined at the idea of a computer animated version of the tale penned by a noted fantasy/graphic novelist (Gaiman) and the co-creator of Pulp Fiction (Avary). However, while the movie diverts from the original text, it provides an explanation for the licenses it takes. The movie purports to be about the "true story" of the legend who inspired the poem. In fact, a portion of the epic tale is recited at one point during the movie, with a brooding Beowulf reflecting how it offers a departure from what really happened. As in the story, Beowulf battles three monsters: Grendel, the troll's mother (Angelina Jolie), and a dragon. The outcomes of those struggles do not necessarily mirror what one might expect based on the legend.

The film's content straddles the ratings boundary between PG-13 and R; had it been live action it probably would have garnered the latter, but the animated nature of the nudity and gore have allowed the producers to procure the more teen-friendly classification. Beowulf restricts the violence so there are limits to the blood and viscera shown being spilt. The nudity is coy. Grendel's mother is shown full frontal but she has no visible nipples. Beowulf is naked when battling Grendel; unlike Viggo Mortensen's similar activity in Eastern Promises , he manages to keep his privates hidden from the cameras with a precision that Austen Powers would envy. This way, the movie gets away with fooling viewers into thinking they have seen more than is actually on screen.

Beowulf delivers everything one could reasonably expect from it. It's the kind of film that will appeal immensely to the 300 audience, although it's not as visceral or as grandiose as the earlier production. Spectacle and high-wattage action interweave in the movie's two most impressive fight scenes: Beowulf's battle with Grendel and the soaring, dipping, weaving sequence with the dragon near the end. Zemeckis makes sure the camera takes in everything with a flourish. There are plenty of showy tracking shots and one could argue that the concept of a static camera is unknown to the filmmakers. We don't watch the action from a safe distance; we are put into it.

The actors are all well-chosen. Ray Winstone is bombastic enough and, via the magic of animation, he is de-aged and given a physique that Arnold Schwarzenegger would envy. Anthony Hopkins adds a little prestige to the production; it's always nice to have an Oscar winner in the cast. Angelina Jolie gets to shed a few years and grow a tail. Rumor has it that, while she didn't film her scenes in the nude, the animators referred back to some of her earlier efforts in the name of verisimilitude. Robin Wright Penn, Brendan Gleeson, and John Malkovich are on hand in supporting roles.

While Beowulf stands up reasonably well in a traditional theater, this is a motion picture that deserves to be seen in a 3D digital environment (if you can stand wearing those annoying glasses for two hours). The film was obviously designed with 3D in mind, and is opening in more than 700 such venues. The movie is also being released in IMAX 3D, but I have to wonder if that experience might be overwhelming. At any case, regardless of the medium, this is an effectively brutal story of swords, sorcery, demons, and heroes, with an Oedipal hint or two thrown in for flavor.

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Movie Review: Beowulf (2007)

• General Disdain
• Movie Reviews
• 12 responses
• --> November 17, 2007

Let me start this particular movie review off by saying I’m a big fan of animated movies. I’m an even bigger fan of films starring real, flesh and blood actors and actresses. I am not however, a proponent of the stop-action animation that mixes these two forms of movies together. Apparently, Robert Zemeckis is. One of his previous movies, The Polar Express , used this methodology to, what I felt was, a disastrous result. So although I had been anxiously awaiting Beowulf , I had some mighty concerns on how it was going to play out using this technique.

But I guess a few years of technological advancements (The Polar Express was released in 2004) can make all the difference. The animation in Beowulf looks fantastic. Most of the movement jerkiness that plagued the other movies has been remedied and this format allows for a more seamless and realistic mixture between wholly animated creatures and the digitized actors. It is still a bit creepy looking at real people overlaid with this computer generated imagery (CGI) but it lends itself well to the Dark Ages setting of the movie.

As for the story itself, I don’t think there is any question as to whether or not it would translate well to the big screen. It’s been done previously several times, just not faithfully to the 6th century poem from whence it came (this version takes a few liberties itself). It’s a story about ego and pride and how it can cause the ruin of even the most stalwart of heroes. The hero in this case is obviously, Beowulf (Ray Winstone). He’s arrived on the shores of King Hrothgar’s (Anthony Hopkins) and Queen Wealthow’s (Robin Wright Penn) kingdom with a plan to slay Grendel (voiced by Crispin Glover), a hideous creature that has been wreaking havoc to all on the countryside. But alas all is not what it seems. It turns out there is a nasty little secret surrounding the monster and the kingdom and Beowulf learns of it when he runs into Grendel’s mother (Angelina Jolie). She reveals the truth and makes him an offer only the humblest of men can resist. In doing so, she ensures her stranglehold on the land and on the men who inhabit it.

For an animated piece, I was particularly taken aback by the level of nudity offered up by Beowulf . Jolie, pours on the sexiness. She’s uses a serpentine seductress voice and strips down to her birthday suit. Watching her gracefully slip out of the water dripping gold from her breasts is quite the sight even though she is digitized and muted (I don’t recall seeing nipples). Our hero strips to the buff as well for one of the better fight scenes of the movie, although thankfully his package is creatively obscured (think Austin Powers) throughout.

And speaking of fights, they are well shot, violent and bloody. Each skirmish is captured from multiple angles and many scenes are slowed down to help catch the intensity of the moment. The final fight is grand in nature and in my opinion, is eclipsed only by the ambitious battle sequences in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

With his latest offering, I believe Zemeckis has hit himself another home run. He’s a great storyteller and deserves a great deal more credit than he has been given (take a look at the movies he’s directed and you’ll be impressed too). Even more impressive is he’s made me a believer in this new animation technique. Beowulf is a movie that deserves to be seen, so get your AD&D friends together for a night out of the basement and check it out.

I'm an old, miserable fart set in his ways. Some of the things that bring a smile to my face are (in no particular order): Teenage back acne, the rain on my face, long walks on the beach and redneck women named Francis. Oh yeah, I like to watch and criticize movies.

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'Movie Review: Beowulf (2007)' have 12 comments

November 18, 2007 @ 12:54 am Hide Ip

I thought it was okay, not great. But I was tired when I was watching it. I think the plot was good, the CG was a bit outdated though. (I’m a graphic designer).

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November 18, 2007 @ 1:33 am Sirius Lee

The CG in this movie brought to mind another favorite of mine, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. The special effects, coupled with the excellent script written by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary and the star power assembled for Beowulf made it a truly admirable adaptation of the heroic epic. Definitely stands up to the Lord of the Rings trilogy in comparison.

November 18, 2007 @ 7:07 am sacha

“It is still a bit creepy looking at real people overlaid with this computer generated imagery”

Creepy is the best you could come up with? It’s downright fucked up looking, if you ask me.

November 20, 2007 @ 11:19 pm Gyutae Park

lol, funny comment sacha.

Anyway, I’ve heard good things about this movie and plan on checking it out.

November 24, 2007 @ 9:33 am FancyBaller

See this movie in 3D. It is a LOT better.

March 4, 2008 @ 11:13 am patrick

the animation was pretty good, though the characters’ movement reminded me a lot of Shrek. At least Beowulf gives a pseudo-education in ancient literature (never had to read the book as a child)

April 7, 2008 @ 2:36 pm Asia'h Epperson

I don’t really get how this movie was awarded a PG-13 certificate. It’s easy to put down Parental Guidance but exposing and expecting you to make a choice for your kids.

May 24, 2008 @ 10:54 am curtains girl

I cant figure it out why they decided to overlay graphics across everything. Its just to weird, its hard to get the right perspective. And the PG13? For what?

February 27, 2009 @ 8:19 pm Personalized Diet Man With Plan

Jolie did indeed look lovely in this film. She clearly sticks to a healthy diet! Brad Pitt is one lucky man.

March 19, 2009 @ 6:53 am HGH reviews

I liked this film. 8/10

January 12, 2010 @ 2:41 am Martha

I too love animated movies. I enjoyed Beowulf movie, its really great. The animation was well designed in this movie.

September 16, 2012 @ 2:32 pm Ryan

Why are all reviews for this movie so terribly written? As part of a college literature class, I need to find three reviews of a Beowulf adaption and take note of how the reviewers mentioned differences between the movie and the source material.

Yet all of said reviews seem more focused on whining about how poor little baby reviewers “saw too much blood boohoo” or “oh cool there were lots of boobs make sure to up-vote me on youtubes!!!”. I mean really now, why public your thoughts if they’re going to be this inane. The internet is cluttered enough as it is.

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• DVD & Streaming
• Action/Adventure , Animation , Drama , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• Ray Winstone as Beowulf; Anthony Hopkins as Hrothgar; John Malkovich as Unferth; Robin Wright Penn as Wealthow; Crispin Glover as Grendel; Angelina Jolie as Grendel's Mother

Home Release Date

• Robert Zemeckis

Distributor

• Warner Bros.

Movie Review

Bæc be sēo dogor, mid þam þe hererincs swelce hererincs—

Oops, sorry. I slipped into Old English for a minute. Where was I? Oh, yes … back in the day, when heroes were heroes and monsters polluted Scandinavia like so many thistles, there was a particularly odious beastie named Grendel. …

Long on drool and short on manners, the nasty-looking brute hates noise—so much so, in fact, that when King Hrothgar throws a party in his nearby mead hall, Grendel goes nuts and slaughters most of the revelers.

The ogre won the battle, but the king isn’t about to let it win the war. So he sends word across the known world that anyone who can kill the monster will win half the gold in his kingdom.

Beowulf, a great Geat warrior, answers the call. He sails into town in all his blond, bearded glory and takes on Grendel with his bare—well, everything. Naked, they fight. And when Grendel tries to flee, the warrior rips off the monster’s arm—a fatal wound.

There is much rejoicing—for a while. Unfortunately for Hrothgar and Beowulf, Grendel has a mother, and we all know that when mama’s not happy, ain’t nobody happy. She sneaks into the mead hall late one night and kills another bevy of the besotted. And suddenly, the Geat is forced to kill two monsters for the price of one.

Little does he know that Grendel’s remarkably attractive mother has other plans. She tells Beowulf she isn’t out for blood—just another son. And she wants Beowulf to be the proud papa.

Positive Elements

Beowulf is a he-man of a hero, brave, courageous and—at least by the standards of the day—polite. He feels it’d be more sporting to fight Grendel without weapons (or armor or clothes), so he does.

Though Beowulf is boastful in the beginning, we see him age and mellow as the film progresses—to the point at which he takes responsibility for his own mistakes (which I’ll detail later) and sacrifices his own life for the lives of others around him. “I visited this horror on my kingdom,” he says after becoming king. “I must be the one to banish her.” His last request is to be remembered “not as a king or a hero, but as a man, fallible and flawed.”

Spiritual Elements

Beowulf takes place in the 6th century AD, when (the film suggests) Scandinavians were moving away from pagan gods and toward Christianity. This clash of faiths is felt throughout, with Christianity being presented—superficially, at least—as weak and ineffective.

When Grendel starts his rampage, Hrothgar’s advisor, Unferth, tells the king that the people are sacrificing to the old gods. He asks Hrothgar if they should also start praying to the “Roman” god Christ Jesus. Hrothgar says, “The gods will not do anything for us that we cannot do for ourselves. What we need is a hero.” (Hrothgar and other characters reference the Norse god Odin several times.)

Once the film leaps forward 50 years, Christianity is firmly in control of the land. Beowulf says that “the Christ god” killed all the monsters, and all the heroes, too. All that’s left, he laments, is “weeping martyrs” and “shame.”

Unferth has apparently become a Christian, wearing a long, monkish cowl and crucifix around his neck. He brandishes it in front of an advancing dragon/man, but loses his family in the dragon’s fiery breath and is severely burned himself. He’s carted to Beowulf on a cross-like litter to pass on the dragon’s message: “The sins of the father.” (We also see a cross torched in the dragon’s wake.)

Sexual Content

After its actors were filmed wearing motion-capture suits, Beowulf was transformed into a computer-animated flick. But that doesn’t minimize the hyper-realistic skin often on display. (And never mind that the whole story takes place in cold-and-snowy Denmark.)

Grendel’s mother (Angelina Jolie) is completely naked throughout her scenes, sometimes covered with a gold-like film dripping off her skin like chocolate. We see her fully from the front and from the back. And while the CGI isn’t completely spot-on realistic—think of it as a mash-up of real-life anatomy and a naked Barbie doll—it is still vivid enough to have caused an audience member behind me to crudely whisper, “That Brad Pitt is a lucky man, eh!?” When Jolie herself saw the final footage, she was reportedly embarrassed and called her family to warn them about how much of her virtual self they would be seeing.

Also, as already mentioned, Beowulf fights Grendel in the buff, and audiences see his naked rear as he’s bouncing off tables and jumping on chandeliers. His “critical” areas are obscured—hidden by a well-placed hand, a sword hilt or a dozen other objects—but he does expose himself to the swooning Queen Wealthow.

Grendel is also nude—though he doesn’t appear to have any sexual organs and his “skin” is little more than a slimy mass of tendons and muscle. Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins) parades about in a kind of a loose-hanging toga—one that showcases lots of skin on the sides and, occasionally, the rear. Naked women occasionally frolic in and sleep under blankets that obscure their most private body parts.

One Danish woman appears to try to entice a Geat warrior with her breasts (which move and shake atop a low-cut dress). The Geat later tries to have intimate relations with her, spouting some vulgar come-ons, but she rejects him. Another woman comments on Beowulf’s body and jokes about his penis. A Geat suggests that a comrade has a fondness for sheep. And Hrothgar says he hopes his land is a haven for “fornication.”

[ Spoiler Warning ] Grendel, as it turns out, is Hrothgar’s illegitimate son, and a good part of the queen’s reluctance to sleep with the king is due to his earlier affair with the demon’s mother. Grendel’s mom also seduces a willing Beowulf, and we see the beginning of their sexual interlude through an indistinct reflection in a shield. (The offspring that results from this union turns out to be a dragon.)

Violent Content

Beowulf begins with Grendel literally ripping apart his victims and ends with Beowulf tearing the still-beating heart out of a dragon. In between, enough virtual blood is spilled to fill a Second Life swimming pool. In 3-D mode, audiences sometimes get doused with the stuff.

Grendel, a 12-foot-tall monstrosity, shreds his victims like paper dolls. He occasionally flings them up in the air, after which they invariably are impaled on something sharp. He tosses them against wood pillars and stone walls. His last snack is the decapitated head of his last victim, which he noisily chews.

When he finally gets his, Beowulf pounds away at Grendel’s oversized eardrum (which shatters in splatter) and severs his arm via a huge door. The limb still moves after it falls on the ground, and partyers later nail it up above the door. In retaliation, Grendel’s mother spirits herself into the mead hall and kills nearly everyone. Though we don’t see the killing, we do see bodies hanging from the rafters.

Beowulf also battles a legion of sea monsters in a flashback: The hero slices through their innards as if they were made of canned cranberries and stabs them in the eyes with unblinking realism. When a monster swallows Beowulf, he manages to stab through its eye from the inside, jumping out in a spray of blood and gore.

[ Spoiler Warning ] In the climactic battle with the dragon, Beowulf stabs the beast several times—mainly in order to stay with the flying creature—and rips open one of its wings. He slashes its throat at the point where it glows, allowing liquid fire to spill out. When the dragon is emptied of its fire, Beowulf spies its beating heart. Get at the heart and the dragon dies, Beowulf knows, but he can’t reach it because one of his arms is caught in thick chains (part of a ship anchor Beowulf has already jammed into the dragon). So Beowulf decides he must cut himself free of his own arm to reach the heart with the other. And he proceeds to do just that.

Someone commits suicide by jumping off a castle wall and falling to the beach below. Unferth beats his servants until they’re bruised and swollen.

Crude or Profane Language

The exclamation “d–n” is said about six times. And it’s joined by sporadic instances of “b–tard,” “h—” and the British curse word “bloody.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

Those Danes and Geats love their mead, and the film opens in Hrothgar’s notorious hall where people are loaded on the honey-based beer. (Hrothgar is particularly repulsive in his drunken state, and his most prized possession is a golden drinking horn.) Beowulf mentions how famous Hrothgar’s mead is throughout the world, and asks for some. But while his comrades drink liberally, Beowulf takes his mead in moderation: He’s never shown drunk.

Before English teachers everywhere rush their students off to the theater to soak up this latest incarnation of a literary giant, there are three things to say:

1) The film has very little to do with the book. For one thing, the poem’s Christian overlay (Beowulf often credits God for his heroic exploits) is all but replaced by backhanded slaps at Christianity onscreen. In the book, Grendel and his Mother are said to be offspring of Cain, who was cursed by God as recorded in Genesis. That’s not in the movie. And Beowulf doesn’t “lay” with Grendel’s mother in the original, either. Instead, he slays her with a sword made by a race of giants—wiped out, apparently, in the Flood. And when Beowulf confronts the dragon, in the book, he’s confronting his own mortality in a particularly splashy way—not his own misbegotten son. So anyone who uses this film as a sort of CliffsNotes is bound to get all the questions wrong on the semester test.

2) Beowulf does say some interesting things about sin and temptation, despite its obstinate overlooking of the poem’s overall character. “Many of the themes that are in Beowulf were lifted from the Bible—a heroic man’s journey, the fight between good and evil and the price of glory,” says director Robert Zemeckis (The Polar Express, Cast Away) . Hrothgar, for instance, wallows in a world of sensual gratification and therefore breeds a creature who’s plagued by his own hyper-developed senses. Beowulf is boastful, and his “son” is all balled up arrogance and anger draped in a dragon’s skin.

Beowulf, the hero, says that in the wake of Christianity, “We men are the monsters now.” In Christian teaching, there are indeed monsters without and monsters within. “Filthy rags,” the prophet Isaiah calls the best of what we are. And it’s Grendel’s mother who becomes the temptation that brings these sinful characteristics to horrifying life. So, despite the film’s apparent exoskeleton of paganism, it ends with the Christ-like sacrifice Beowulf must make and the idea that he must show incredible courage to confront his own, monstrous mistake.

3) The nudity and violence in Beowulf is such that, had this been a live-action film, the Motion Picture Association of America would’ve undoubtedly slapped it with an R rating. This may be an animated film—the rationale surely used to justify its PG-13 status—but everything is so realistic it feels like Zemeckis got off on a technicality. Even star Angelina Jolie says she won’t take her own children to the film because of its content. “It’s remarkable it has the rating it has,” she told the BBC. “It’s quite an extraordinary film, and some of it shocked me.”

A fourth point is therefore not needed. And class is now dismissed.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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I expected the film version of the epically tedious Old English poem to be a craptacular. Director Robert Zemeckis used the same motion-capture process in 2004’s The Polar Express and turned live actors into digital humans who looked invaded by body snatchers. Boy, have things changed. The eighth-century Beowulf, goosed into twenty-first-century life by a screenplay from sci-fi guru Neil Gaiman and Pulp Fiction ‘s Roger Avary, will have you jumping out of your skin and begging for more. Be sure to see it in 3-D. I can’t vouch for the flat version, but the 3-D Beowulf will debut on a record number of digital screens (1,000, and 90 in IMAX). Put on those plastic glasses and ride, baby, ride. I’ve never seen a 3-D movie pop with this kind of clarity and oomph. It’s outrageously entertaining. Terrific actors were hired to do the movements and the voices. Ray Winstone, so good in The Departed and, well, everything else, speaks the role of Beowulf like a Viking hero for the ages. The Adonis body (Winstone is fifty and flabby) comes courtesy of the digital department. Angelina Jolie didn’t need body tweaking to play hottie mom to the monster Grendel (Crispin Glover). That is, until she transforms into a literal dragon lady. Anthony Hopkins plays a king with a thing for Mom, whose penchant for nudity also rouses Beowulf. Credulity is stretched tighter than the film’s PG-13 rating. There are unintentional laughs, especially when Beowulf strips off his Village People skivvies to fight Grendel. It’s a balls-out scene, with impressionable audiences protected from testicle whiplash by carefully placed objects (no doubt a nod to the censored orgy in Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut ). But as humans battle monsters, Zemeckis springs so many pow 3-D surprises you’ll think Beowulf is your own private fun house.

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Beowulf review – all the violence and excitement of an action movie

G rendel is dead. Beowulf is victorious. The mood is of celebration and so, in Seamus Heaney's taut and muscular adaptation , King Hrothgar calls for a bard to commemorate the defeat of the monster. What is needed, he says, is a work that links "a new theme to a strict metre".

It is the observance of Heaney's own strict metre that distinguishes Lynne Parker's consummate staging of this Old English poem. Billed as a dramatic reading, her austere, controlled and gripping production splits the text between Helen McAlpine, Lorraine McIntosh and Anita Vettesse, a Greek chorus in muted greys who strike every syllable with urgent authority.

Although their vowel sounds are warm and rounded, and their consonants kick and click, there is nothing here to suggest a poetry recital. On the contrary: they have a compelling tale to tell, one with all the violence and excitement of an action movie, and with unwavering focus they exploit Heaney's robust language for every bit of its narrative drive.

On the cracked slates and crumbling pillars of Charlotte Lane's set, enhanced by the modulating tones of Sergey Jakovsky's lighting and the near-subliminal echoes of Denis Clohessy's score, they make a formidable ensemble.

It's tempting to say that, in casting three women as narrators, Parker feminises the poem, but that isn't quite right. You couldn't accuse them of underplaying the fight scenes or skipping over the monster's gory excesses. Rather, by presenting the women as neutral observers, connected to the society but not active participants in the story, Parker makes Beowulf reflective as well as thrilling. There is something in the actors' plain-speaking acceptance of all the story's extremities – of a world where Christian belief is an insurance against unknowable dangers, where everything beyond the mead hall is strange – that makes it more mysterious still.

• Seamus Heaney

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‘Gun & Powder’ Review: Twin Vigilantes Stake Claim to the American West

The musical traces the story of Black twin sisters who pass as white, and exact their own form of justice for the crime of slavery, in 19th-century Texas.

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By Naveen Kumar

The title of “ Gun & Powder ,” a thrillingly original new musical about mixed-race twin sisters who cut a path through Texas in 1893, refers to their travel essentials: a shrewd parting gift from their sharecropping mother and a touch of makeup to brighten their toasted-ivory complexions.

The legend of Mary and Martha Clarke, who purportedly robbed white people while themselves passing for white, stretches back generations for the show’s book writer and lyricist, Angelica Chéri. She based this rousing Western, now playing at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, N.J., on her great-great-aunts. (“But you know how family stories do,” sings a gospel Greek chorus of narrators, “so we believe the story is mostly true.”)

With a wide-ranging, powerhouse score by Ross Baum, “Gun & Powder” refashions a classic myth of the American West — white men who fancy themselves above the law — into an irresistible revenge fantasy: Mary and Martha, who go from toiling in the fields to coolly stealing money made off their ancestors’ backs, aren’t outlaws but vigilantes, exacting justice for the crime of slavery.

It’s another triumph that their extraordinary history, directed with vibrant panache by Stevie Walker-Webb, assumes the form of a big-throated American musical filled with star-making roles for Black women.

Mary (Ciara Renée) and Martha (Liisi LaFontaine) seem much alike at first, driven by a shared affection for their mother, Tallulah (Jeannette Bayardelle), whose white lover left her brokenhearted with their daughters and under another white man’s boot. The bond among the three women forms a compelling emotional throughline, and there’s stirring harmony among the actors’ dynamite vocals.

The show gets off to a quick if hackneyed start (a cotton-picking number is a bit on the nose), but picks up giddy momentum as the sisters hatch a plan to fill their mother’s pockets. They intend to pose as white to earn higher wages, but when Martha pulls a pistol on a couple of creeps who then throw money at their feet, the sisters devise a more lucrative plot.

Sweet but calculating Mary becomes enthralled by one of their marks, Jesse Whitewater (Hunter Parrish), a fellow hustler with his own secrets. Martha, tougher and increasingly less inclined to keep up their passing act, attracts the attention of Elijah (Aaron James McKenzie), a Black man who works for Jesse, who is white. The sisters’ paths diverge as each one navigates how much she allows herself to be seen (a split also displayed in their smart period costumes by Emilio Sosa). The ensuing conflicts, both within and between them, are rendered in belt-heavy R&B numbers that LaFontaine, and especially Renée, send soaring.

Though, neither of the Clarke sisters is fooling the Black women in Jesse’s employ, Sissy (Aurelia Williams) and Flo (Zonya Love). Their clocking of Mary and Martha as Black is among the show’s wry comedic highlights, and includes a lyrical punchline about a pot calling out a kettle. But their discerning eyes illuminate for the audience the rising stakes of the Clarkes’ ruse: When you reinvent yourself as someone else, what happens to the part you try to erase? Mary and Martha are also divided over how willing they are to deny their Blackness and cast off their mother.

Walker-Webb’s production grows more elaborate as the Clarkes venture further into society and precariously balance their double lives, the effects of duplicity rooting around their psyches. A backdrop that resembles a detail from a Hogarth print is illuminated, mood-ring style, in oranges, blues and purples (the set is by Beowulf Boritt and lighting by Adam Honoré). Expressionist flourishes creep into the staging as what first seems like a game turns into a fraught reckoning with identity.

The dynamics of passing have long held narrative fascination for their entanglement of power, secrecy and desire. And accounts of Black life in the Old West remain a rarity. Baum and Chéri’s score, while incorporating an array of styles rooted in gospel and R&B, leans heavily on vocal gymnastics and could benefit from a bit more restraint. And the rapid ramp-up and conclusion of the Clarkes’ criminal careers could use more detailed development.

But “Gun & Powder” is the type of audacious and rollicking story that’s too often missing from American stages: Proof that for as long as people have been kept down, there have been those who managed to find joy in fighting back.

Gun & Powder Through May 5 at the Paper Mill Playhouse, Millburn, N.J.; gunandpowdermusical.com . Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes.

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In a besieged land, Beowulf must battle against the hideous creature Grendel and his vengeance seeking mother. In a besieged land, Beowulf must battle against the hideous creature Grendel and his vengeance seeking mother. In a besieged land, Beowulf must battle against the hideous creature Grendel and his vengeance seeking mother.

• Graham Baker
• David Chappe
• Christopher Lambert
• Rhona Mitra
• Oliver Cotton
• 166 User reviews
• 49 Critic reviews
• 3 nominations

• Weaponsmaster
• (as Charlie Robinson)
• (as Brent J. Lowe)
• Grendel's Mother
• Chief Officer

• (as Marcelo Cobzariu)

• Hrothgar's Wife
• 1st Soldier
• Eyepatch Lieutenant
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• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia Producers promised a budget of 25 million dollars, whereas they made the film for 3.5 million dollars, according to star Christopher Lambert .
• Goofs (at around 1h 6 mins) When Beowulf cuts off the arm of Grendel, we see a left arm hit the ground (look at where the thumb is) but it is Grendel's right arm that is missing.

Will : You know Carl, with all the cool ways to die around here, I'd rather not go by heart-attack.

• Connections Referenced in The Mummy Returns (2001)
• Soundtracks Beowulf Performed by Jonathan David Sloate (as Jonathan Sloate) Written by Jonathan David Sloate (as Jonathan Sloate) Published by Sorcerer's Apprentice Publishing Company Jonathan Sloate appears courtesy of Black Forest Productions p1998 Black Forest Productions

User reviews 166

• Blackthorn9
• May 22, 2005
• How long is Beowulf? Powered by Alexa
• What is 'Beowulf' about?
• Is 'Beowulf' based on a book?
• Why does Beowulf come to the outpost to kill Grendel?
• April 1, 1999 (Singapore)
• United Kingdom
• United States
• arabuloku.com
• The Kushner-Locke Company
• Capitol Films
• Threshold Entertainment
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $3,500,000 (estimated)

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 35 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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