Last night, I forsook an opportunity to read poetry in favor of viewing a major Hollywood motion picture that took copious liberties with a hallmark of the English language. I'm now sitting alone in my office, waiting for the men in black coats with patches on the elbows to arrive and strip me of my English degree. But I'm still smiling.
Alright, perhaps the smile is a bit forced, but I really had a great time last night. My wife and I made a spontaneous decision to drive more than an hour to Portage, IN because it's the closest IMAX movie screen around here. I used to work in a movie theatre--I have tasted of that dark knowledge, the double-oil popcorn batch--and let me tell you, I haven't seen a place jumping this much since 1996. People streamed in and out of the doors, there was neon everywhere; it was so lively that I couldn't help thinking of our own, lonely local 16-screen cineplex and how amazingly dead it seemed by comparison. I pinched myself--yep, I was still in Indiana.
The great blazing light that drew me to the theatre and away from an intellectually fulfilling experience at the local coffeehouse was none other than Robert Zemeckis's Beowulf, in glorious 3-D on a screen whose height is measured in stories rather than feet.
The film was surprisingly true to the events of the epic poem, though they embellished it with a backstory which imparted, I believe, an "agreeable symmetry." All the major plot points and characters were there, from King Hrothgar's gregarious lot, to the great dragon which threatens Beowulf's people in his final days. But it was Grendel, first and foremost, that bought my attention and sealed my favor of the film. I won't try to describe it, but our introduction to the beast was chillingly perfect.
I keep seeing this in movie reviews, and I'll echo it here--if you get the chance, see it on an IMAX screen, in 3-D. It's worth it, at least if you're in love with movies. My wife and I have been, ever since we served time together in that box office, O so long ago.
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Yes, we saw Beowulf, too, this weekend, but unfortunately not in 3-D. I was disappointed in the liberties it took, but enjoyed the movie nonetheless. My biggest disappointment was seeing the actor that Beowulf was modeled after didn't exactly comport with the Beowulf of the screen. Of course, he was a little too good to be true! Hah!
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