Change Your Image
mazgarathag
Reviews
Beowulf & Grendel (2005)
Better than I thought, but still . . .
I picked this up at the rental without having read any critique or commentary, and I didn't expect much after seeing Gerard Butler as Atilla.
On that level, it was a pleasant surprise.
The first scene was a good microcosm of the rest of the movie. There were some nice shots of the riders bearing down on Grendel (as a boy) and his father. The scenery was authentic. They didn't overdo the fighting, which I liked but the mood was spoiled by the tufts of hair on the kid, making him look more goofy than feral.
The alterations in the story were interesting, but leaned (way) too much toward the modern. By that, I mean a sort of politically correct sympathy that people in that hard-bitten age simply wouldn't have had. If you didn't believe in the strength of your group and its right to fight for its self-interest, then you would have quickly been wiped out (poof, there goes the whimpering defeatists - let's take their sh-- and enslave them!). Any doubt of where the director's opinion lies is put to rest by the TERRIBLE character of Sarah Polley as the witch. Her American accent sticks out like a sore thumb, and the scene where one night Grendle comes in for a poke is totally unbelievable. Yet, she is the one that the ham-fisted direction tells you is the one with the correct, wise, viewpoint. On the same level, Beowulf's reduction in heroism is interesting as inspired by his bard/minstrel follower, but overdone.
I'm mentioning too much of the bad. The costuming, scenery, and cinematography was well done, or at least well-selected. Most of the acting (minus Polley) had at least a good effort.
Demon Rage (1982)
Plenty of Toole
If only the rest of the Bond girls were as dedicated to showing their assets as Lana Wood. I'd been looking for this movie for 14 years, having only remembered just one word of one of the alternate titles. Why has it been on my mind off and on for so long? . . . the best movie nipples of all time! (or at least that's how I remember them - now I have to find a copy!) As I recall, the plot was more or less irrelevant. That's not the point of this kind of exploitation movie at all. Showing some skin in embarrassing situations and leading up to that (or those) points is all that matters. It's not that this was the best skin flick or B film, the value of the movie rides on Lana Wood and I have to respect and admire her for all she was willing to show!