Ancient tale in 3-D glasses

Published 1:42 pm Thursday, November 15, 2007

Your experience with “Beowulf” will depend on how many dimensions you’re in when you see it.

I am not suggesting you should alter your consciousness before you go to the theater. No, I mean “Beowulf” should be seen in 3-D, with the glasses and everything (it will play this way on certain screens and at IMAX theaters).

See it “flat,” without the 3-D, and the movie is a three-star experience — clever, a little cheesy, enjoyably silly. See it in 3-D, and you’ll be transported to a new realm of movie-watching. I saw it in 3-D at a preview screening and found myself frequently astonished.

Thus one of the oldest narrative stories known to mankind has become cutting-edge technology, thanks to director Robert Zemeckis. The man behind “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and “Back to the Future” is exactly the man-child to maximize the goofy possibilities of 3-D.

3-D isn’t the only innovation here. Zemeckis has continued the “motion-capture” experiments in animation that he began with the very uneven (and really kind of creepy) “Polar Express.” This one is light years beyond that movie, both in technology and fun.

In motion capture animation, actors perform their roles against blank backdrops. Every visual element is then added digitally, so the actors themselves might be recognizable — as Anthony Hopkins and Angelina Jolie are here — or they might be rendered into a new form.

If you ever read “Beowulf” in high school, you will recognize the outline, although the script by comic-book giant Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary adds some wrinkles. Beowulf (Ray Winstone) is a warrior who comes to the land of the Danes to battle the monster Grendel (Crispin Glover), and then finds his hands full with Grendel’s mother (Jolie).

So the story is full of mead halls and treasure caves and other silly items. Viewers may be forgiven for suppressing a giggle or two when Beowulf strips down to battle Grendel in the nude (especially when Zemeckis resorts to Austin Powerslike devices to prevent Beowulf’s naughty bits from showing).

Speaking of nudity, Grendel’s mom is also shown in Angelina Jolie’s full birthday suit, which leaves no doubt about Beowulf’s weakness in her presence. But it’s a cartoon, so the PG-13 rating (which allows for quite a bit of flying blood and scary monsters) is maintained.

Amongst the sword-and-sandals silliness, Zemeckis tries some unusual gambits: for instance, Beowulf is hardly a shining hero (casting Ray Winstone, with his bluff working-class voice, insured that). He’s a boaster, and quite susceptible to temptation.

Other voices are provided by John Malkovich, Brendan Gleeson and Robin Wright Penn. But stealing the show is weird-dude actor Crispin Glover, whose Grendel is unintelligible but strangely pathetic. Grendel’s horrifying animated look is truly remarkable.

There are things in the 3-D “Beowulf” that truly astonish. Zemeckis has designed it so that every spear, every dragon’s tail, jumps off the screen. It’s a trip — but see it in 3-D.