I! AM!…

Now With Review (some minor spoilers)…

TUESDAY, NOV 13, 2007:

I! AM!…

at a loss for words right now.

Let me update this on Thursday after i figure this all out.

But Jesus.

Ya know the shot in Polar Express…THE SHOT, with the ticket’s journey…

This whole film is like that shot.

If you don’t seek out IMAX 3D for this you’re out of your mind.

UPDATE – THURSDAY NIGHT, NOV 16, 2007:

A Mind-blowing, head-crushing, out-of-control visual odyssey that will jerk off your mind and give it multiple releases in the two hours you’ve paid to spend time with it. Zemekis. He, to me more than anyone else, is the one who most consistently gives me the feeling i spend my life searching for. Time and time again he delivers that feeling. The reason for my being. And BEOWULF is no exception. I love everything there is to love about this experience. For it is not a film. To call it a film is unfair. Racist even. This is an EXPERIENCE. And an industry-changing one at that. He has pushed the technical bar beyond where it can be pushed. And it really kind of upsets me that we have all grown SO cynical that, here we have the most amazing, advanced, unbelievable spectacle and all most can do is nitpick about CG flaws in characters eyes. It’s like how everyone that called the Polar Express kids “Dead Eyed” were people who never actually experienced the journey. Everyone i know who saw Polar loved it. Ya know why? Because when a movie is good, it doesn’t matter if they use stick figure animation or top notch CG. The story and emotions are what matters. And you get caught up in it so much that after the first few minutes you tend to forget all about those dead eyes and instead get caught up in a great story.

Which is why i still prefer Polar over Beo. But to compare them is unfair. For Beowulf is the Polar opposite. Zemekis has the balls to deliver a no-holds-barred mega-violent juggernaut that pushes the PG-13 rating beyond its limits. This is to PG-13 what Temple of Doom was to PG. I almost want to do a sociology experiment where, at one screening, i pick a naive family with their 8 year old and sit by them and watch the parents body language through this film. It’ll be fun to see how they react to the song that Beowulf’s men sing, among some other highly sexual tidbits.

Anyway, as i said – the ZemekisVision is beyond desciption here. There are shots in the film that will bring me back again and again. I sit here on the day of its release having seen it three times, all in IMAX 3D (THERE IS NO OTHER WAY – NO, NOT EVEN THE REAL3D theaters) and i have to actually cut the review short because i am rushing out the door for my fourth. This has the IncreasedAwe effect. Where i am liking it more and more with each time. And the Silvestri score is the best. So great.

The one thing i can say, and i agree with Eros on, is that – the film falls short of being the masterpiece is could have been for one main reason. And that is the lack of an emotional connection. It’s tricky, because i”m not familiar with the poem (i was supposed to read it at NYU but never bothered). So if this is what the story is than i guess it is what it is. Still, I wish that i could connect a little more emotionally with the character of Beowulf. As awesomely rendered as he is and as fun as it is to watch him battle the greatest dragon in cinema history, there are times, like at the end, where i wish i was made to feel a little more sympathy for him.

If anything, i mainly relate to Grendal, not because i LOVE that Crispin not only gets to create a whole character out of his Charlie’s Angels scream as well as recreate the George McFly laugh for Zemekis after all these years (and court battles) – but because he’s an unexpectedly sympathetic creature who just wants some peace and quiet. And i know what it’s like to feel that everytime i see a film in Mahattan.

Also – one last note on the CG – i think it’s interesting to note that Beowulf and Wiglaf are the best Human animation in this. And my theory is because there is no actual actor frame of reference for our eyes and mind. So when we watch Hopkins, we can easily pick out any flaws. But Since Beowulf looks nothing like Ray Winstone who portrays him – since he a completely fresh image to us – we therefore accept him all the more.

Anyway – i know this review is rambling all over but like i said, i’m typing a mile a minute to run out the door back up to 67th & Bway to get naked all over again for the 4th time. All the gaybaby’s out there can keep their 300. I want Beowulf all to myself.