Awesome - simply breathtaking

Rating: 8/10 (21 November 2007)

Saw this at the London IMAX on Monday and although I had heard good things from various websites about this film I hadn't expected to be quite so impressed - and moved - by the story and visuals Robert Zemeckis spent so much time and effort bringing to the big screen. Aided by screenwriters Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary he has taken a story that, on paper, could appear thin and one dimensional and crafted a tale of excitement, pathos and beauty while offering real insight into what it takes to be a hero and the price to pay for being human. The character of Beowulf is shown as a young man being arrogant and boastful  already assured of his status as a hero. He even criticises Christianity for replacing real heroes with 'weeping martyrs'. It takes an older, wiser Beowulf to realise that to truly take his place among the immortals he will have to sacrifice everything  in some cases giving up the very things he took from others along the way. The characters of Grendal and his Mother have also been revised so that rather than being the purely evil monstrous forms of the poem they are now a necessary part of the world they inhabit and only allowed to flourish due to the failings and weaknesses of men. Grendal's Mother may give birth to demons but in doing so she also creates heroes! If you can get to see this film in IMAX/3D format I would thoroughly recommend it  not only do you get a great film but you will also get the chance to see the technical achievement of today's 3D technology which, when applied to Beowulf's sweeping vistas and intense action sequences, serve to draw you in and really make you feel part of the action. The CGI, by the way, is top notch.