A modern version of an ancient tale

Rating: 7/10 (5 December 2010)

Although Beowulf is one of the oldest stories I'd never seen an attempt to film it before. The story seemed basic enough: monster called Grendel attacks a country, a hero slays the monster and becomes its mother's enemy then slays her. It turned out there was more to the film version than that though; for a start who is Grendel's father and is the hero Beowulf telling the whole truth about his monster slaying exploits?
This film version of the story was fairly exciting and the CGI used seemed far more real than that used in many films I've seen even when it involved fantastic creatures. It was nice to see such a flawed hero as the star; I was expecting Beowulf to be the sort of hero that defeated his foes and told the truth but it was clear that he was prone to exaggeration from the start and was never modest about his claimed feats. Early on it looked as if Unferth was going to be an antagonist who would more than likely betray the hero but as it turned out this character merely exposed Beowulf's lies which was a nice twist that avoided the usual clichés. The actors did a good job although because of the use of motion capture CGI not all of them look like themselves which was a little disconcerting at first especially as other characters look very like their actors.
While purists may be upset with the changes to the story people looking for an action adventure should have little to complain about. While it is full of action there is little gore and no offensive language so it is suitable for younger teens as well as adults.