Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Bae Wolf, A Lesbian Beowulf?

There I go again...a gratuitous headline designed to get hits for my blog. So sue me.  The "Beowulf" legend has hundreds of retellings over the centuries.  The story lends itself to that.  An important and classic story meant to tap into any contemporary settings...whether it be 1945...1975...or 2022.  Common themes permeate time and societal struggles.  2022's "Bae Wolf," a David Axe film, is a fine contribution to the Beowulf subgenre.  This film, and the classic story do two things for us.  First, we see what happens to us when we realize we are not who we want to be or thought we were...do we sink into despair or go through a healthy reevaluation?  Next, can we intelligently identify the monsters around us without using a mirror?

Princess Freawaru (Morgan Shaley Renew) is sad.  The evil Grendel (Josh Kern) monster is raiding her village, decapitating and disemboweling her friends and family.  There doesn't seem to be any stopping this evil fiend!  Then she arrives...Beowulf (Jennifer Hill).  The great monster hunter which so much lore speaks of.  The beautiful Beowulf and Freawaru make goo-goo eyes at each other and love at first sight kicks in.  The monster hunter agrees to hang out and defend Freawaru's village against Grendel.  Uh oh...the great Beowulf may not be all she is cracked up to be.  In fact, her and her merry troop of monster hunters may be con artists. 


Grendel feasts on the fears of his so-called victims.  Bad news for the beset Danish village?  Well, for the first time, Beowulf is in love.  Now she has the will to fight for something that touches her soul.  Freawaru and Beowulf having fallen in love, must deal with their deceptive pasts and the reality of evil.  Grendel's attacks continue and any veils covering who Beowulf really is are ripped away.  Now, can the real Beowulf protect the one she loves even if that means baring her true self to her?

A study of all the Beowulf retellings will make us wonder if the ending to this flick will be a happy ending?  That depends who you see as the monster and how you identify the protagonists.  Perhaps David Axe's most pertinent point is that we are not each other's enemies...as I mentioned earlier, our greatest foe is in the mirror.  For some great gore, acting, sultry babes, and slimy monsters...see David Axe's "Bae Wolf."  

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