Film Details:
Beowulf (12A)
Family(2007)
114mins US
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Robin Wright Penn, Brendan Gleeson

LondonNet Film Review
Beowulf

Utilising the same sophisticated motion capture technology as The Polar Express, Robert Zemeckis's computer animated re-imagining of the oldest surviving poem in the English language boasts dazzling fight sequences, lusty serving wenches and mythic, demonic creatures...

It's a smorgasbord for the senses, especially in 3D: splinters of wood, gold coins and at least one severed head appear to fly out of the screen, and a razor-sharp spear stops tantalisingly short of piercing an entire section of the audience. Beowulf pushes the state-of-the-art technology to the limit, most noticeably during the bravura action sequences including a vertiginous aerial battle with a fire-breathing dragon. Jaws drop at this digitally enhanced live-action adventure, and that's before the eponymous warrior sheds his clothes to fight the monstrous man-eating Grendel, or Angelina Jolie's sylphlike form emerges from a cavernous hiding place, naked and dripping wet, to seduce the brawny hero.

Screenwriters Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary adapt the Anglo-Saxon epic poem into a three-act adventure, book-ended by two terrific, adrenaline-pumping set pieces. Unfortunately, the story sags badly in the middle section and the tone errs towards the unintentionally camp or unnecessarily risque. When one of Beowulf's henchmen tries to ravish a maiden, she rebuffs his advances by warning that the monster could arrive at any moment. "Well then, how about a gobble?" asks the bruiser. Similarly, when Beowulf decides to shed his clothes prior to the encounter with Grendel, and stretches proudly au naturelle before his men, one companion stands nervously over him, seemingly transfixed by the fighter's obscured lower portions and gasps, "I don't like the smell of this one!" We can only presume he is referring to their dire predicament. Carefully placed swords and background detail spare the hero's blushes in an Austin Powers stylee.

Rolling back the mists of time to Denmark AD507, the film settles in the realm of corrupt and drunken King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins), whose sins have condemned his people to brutality at the hands of the savage beast Grendel (Crispin Glover). After a particularly attack on the mead hall of Heorot, resulting in bloodshed on a horrific scale, Hrothgar sends word that he will give half of his gold to any man who can slay the hideous creature. Soon after, a great warrior (Ray Winstone) arrives by long boat on Danish shores. "I am Beowulf and I am here to kill your monster," he tells the King proudly, adding that victory against Grendel is a matter of pride not greed: "If we do, it will be for glory, not for gold." The king's pretty, young wife Wealthow (Robin Wright Penn) is especially happy to meet the strapping hero. Aided by his loyal sidekick Wiglaf (Brendan Gleeson), Beowulf wrestles with Grendel and rips the beasts' claw from its socket, fatally wounding his prey. The ogre dies soon after and Grendel's mother (Jolie) vows revenge, exploiting Beowulf's lust for power to forge a pact that effectively seals the kingdom's fate.

Beowulf is violent and gory with disturbing scenes of characters being torn in two, or limbs being wrenched from sockets, fully warranting the 12A classification. Very young viewers may find these sequences too intense, while the more suggestive images (a chesty woman swaying back and forth as she scrubs a table, groaning in ecstasy with each scrub) will no doubt appeal to teenagers. Winstone's Cock-er-ney twang is horribly misplaced next to the rest of the cast, many of whom attempt a Nordic twang to their vocal performances, including John Malkovich as the king's snide advisor Unferth. Dazzling as the visuals may be, the technology still cannot replicate realistic eye movement. Close-up, the characters look like dolls, with lifeless, glassy orbs replacing the windows to their souls.

As well as the traditional two-dimensional version of the film, which opens at the majority of cinemas across the UK and Ireland, Beowulf will also become the largest 3D release of any picture to date. Dolby 3D Digital Cinema prints screen at selected multiplexes while large format cinemas will present Zemeckis's eye-popping feature in IMAX 3D, fully immersing viewers in the action. The results are truly jaw dropping. As the camera swoops around the mead hall of Heorot, we feel like we are gliding between beams, following a rat as it scuttles in the rafters to an untimely demise. The climactic fight with the dragon is particularly impressive, our stomachs lurching as the fire-breathing monster swoops and dives over mountainous terrain. Paying tribute to the mighty Beowulf, Wiglaf solemnly declares, "He was the bravest of us. He was the prince of warriors. His name will live forever." Forever is an awfully long time - early December and the release of The Golden Compass seems more realistic.

- Sam Cannon