"I...am..BEOWULF!"

"...and my life climaxes at interesting periods."

I saw Beowulf over the weekend, and it occurred to me that it might make a decent post on this blog. Why? Well, because I think it had some interesting storytelling elements that made it worth discussing. Most bloggers will probably talking about Angelina Jolie as a naked demon with high heels (even Roger Ebert), and that's fine, but I'd like to explore the storytelling a little bit (and, yes, it has to do with Angelina, but not so much with her lack of clothing...sorry).

Oh, and there are spoilers here, so don't read if you are concerned with knowing story elements (I'll try to keep the spoilers minimal, though).

Point #1: The Setup

The way the movie starts is great. We're in the King's hall, there's a party going on, and everybody is happy. But it's eerie. We have the feeling something is going to go wrong. The cinematography here is really good, too. And then...well, then everything goes south. It's a great setup, though, and it's filled with suspense.

Point #2: The First and Second Acts

I actually thought the first and second acts were very well done. We meet the characters, we understand the dilemma, and we even get insights into the fatal flaw of our hero, Beowulf (he can't control himself around beautiful women that want him, especially if they're mythical). That's done through good storytelling and a very strong flashback sequence. Very cool.

Point #3: The Turning Point

And all of that takes us to the key turning point of the movie. And here's where the storytelling takes a slight dip in its effectiveness (in my opinion). It's about a two hour movie, and it takes about an hour and a half to get through the first portion of the movie.

So, we've seen this massive climax (battling his first monster, meeting naked Jolie, etc.), we're well past the mid-point of the movie (really closer to where plot point 2 should be), and then...there's only a half an hour to finish everything out.

The finish is very short, involves another massive battle (which is actually done very well and looks really cool), and then...it's over. We don't see a lot of Beowulf from the time of his "mistake" (you'll know what this is if you've read the book or seen the movie) to the time of his "redemption" (if you can call it that).

"...and I have a problem with clothing."

The summary, then? Well, I think it would have made more sense as a three-hour movie. Let's see more of Beowulf after his mistake and understand how it's really effecting his life. We get hints at it, but not enough. The climax for the second battle is just sort of...normal. It's a great battle, very intense, but we don't have enough emotional investment in it to care beyond, "Wow, that's cool."

The movie, overall, is good. Maybe a 6, 6.5 out of 10. The special effects are good. The action is good. There's a lot of skin (both on behalf of Jolie and our hero, who seems to hate any kind of chafing against his sensitive skin). But, it's just an "okay" film.

Switch the storyline up a bit, make it tighter, give us a sense of gravity regarding Beowulf's "mistake," and then you've got quite a story. Oh, and probably keep the main character's clothes on more. Just cause you made really cool CGI muscles doesn't mean we have to see them every second. I'm not a hater, I would just prefer not to snicker every time something is supposed to be serious...

Any other thoughts?