Beowulf (2007)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy/Animation

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright, Ray Winstone, John Malkovich, Brendan Gleeson, Angelina Jolie

Based on an ancient Scandinavian poem set in Denmark, Beowulf (Winstone) is a mighty hero who arrives to the aid of King Hrothgar (Hopkins) when his royal halls are being constantly plagued by a beast called Grendel. Beowulf wounds the beast without armour and with his bare hands and leaves him to scamper to his mother (Jolie) where he dies. The Danes rejoice but Grendels mother wants revenge and she attacks and kills all of Beowulf's warriors save him. Beowulf now has to finish Grendel's mother too, a task far more challenging than he ever imagined. Her beauty is astonishing and enticing, seductive and luscious, tempting and mesmerising, so much so, that any warrior would willingly give in to her. The movie has been shot on a motion capture technology where simply the motion of the act is captured on film with all other entities such as background and effects being digitally created and added. The visual aspects and special effects may not be all that stunning or ground-breaking, yet the detailing and specifications are spot-on. The movie is a reproduction of the poem with its own pieces of modifications and alterations which make it a good, interesting and action-packed piece of entertainment.

Thumbs up: Good plot execution and adaptation

Thumbs down: Weak special effects and animation

Rating: 7.3/10