Good but they didn't go all the way

Rating: 6/10 (4 September 2008)

I watched this movie on DVD on my laptop and despite this enjoyed it. I suspect the CGI would be much more impressive on a big screen and doubly so in IMAX but I could appreciate it even on such a small screen (squashed as close to my face as possible I might add). At times the effects really are stunning, usually when there is not much movement. When the characters are jumping around or riding horses I found myself unimpressed by the realism. Faces and bodies are, however, on the whole amazing and given some of the models quite breathtaking.
Another negative for the film is the wide variety of accents (usually bad). Weird combinations of Scottish, English, Irish and Scandinavian really baffled me, the most bizarre choice for me being that of the Beowulf himself who has an accent that belongs in 'Snatch' or 'Lock Stock..'.
The story is loosely based on legend I believe and is in itself quite interesting. The monsters are .. monstrous especially Grendel who really made me squirm! The action is watchable and refreshingly quite believable. The dialog is a bit naff in places but not on a grand scale as in other hero action movies (a positive?).
Anthony Hopkin's performance and the presence of Alison Lohman and a surprisingly hot version (given that I don't rate the real version that highly) of Angelina Jolie made this overall watchable. In my opinion they failed to go all the way with it though, and some of my supposedly more artistic and less boyish friends would probably hate it.