Spectacular CGI Show

Rating: 9/10 (14 April 2008)

Beowulf (Winstone) comes to King Hrothgar's (Hopkins) lands to fight the monster Grendel.
Here's the thing. If you need to take a test on Beowulf, you best read the entire epic poem, or at the very least, find the Classic Comic Book (if it's still around) because Hollywood has done it again by deviating from the epic poem. So you will find very few answers in here. Yes, Woody Allen did tell Diane Keaton in Annie Hall that she should never take a course that makes you read Beowulf, but he should have also added "or watch a movie that is historically incorrect."
So what are we left with? Why the CGI, silly. And wasn't this what it was all about? Some even saw it in 3-D. Imagine that. I wasn't so lucky and had to watch the old fashioned way on a DVD without 3-D. Poor me.
The real winner here is the CGI. And, it was spectacular to say the very least. Yes, the acting was very good too, but the CGI was all of Oscar Worthiness. The cinematography rivaled Sin City, Bram Stoker's Dracula and the war scenes in Atonement. And, it must be assumed also that no CGI horses were harmed in any way in the filming of this movie.
Now for the flaw in the Hollywood version of the story. Grendel's Mother (Jolie) lets Beowulf rule for 50 years and then pulls everything away. Why? What did Beowulf do to have that happen to him? What was his sin? It was never explained. Of course, in the real epic poem, Grendel's Mother was defeated by Beowulf at the time Grendel was defeated so there was never anything given to Beowulf by Grendel's Mother. See? (There must be a Classic Comic around somewhere, maybe on Ebay.)
Yes, there was more cleavage going around than outright nudity in here. Angelina Jolie may have been fully naked, but there was nothing erotic about her. She was covered in a paint of some kind that had me looking to see what kind of paint was used. And, that could explain why the PG-13 rating.
Enjoy the CGI with or without the 3-D glasses. That is what it was all about. And, they are spectacular (with apologies to Seinfeld).
Violence: Yes, Sex: Not really, Nudity: Yes, but not erotic, Language: No, did they know any language in the 500s?