Epic in the right context

Rating: 6/10 (26 March 2008)

I was fortunate enough to see this in cinema, however I don't think I would somehow spend 20 pounds on the DVD when it became available. Yes the film loosely follows the manuscript, however it fails to provide the sense of 'superlativity' that the poem was intended to provide. I digress, the film itself is one of those epics that will be remembered, it is in the ranks with 300, Ben Hur, Star Wars, LOTR and the likes of. However the animation is comparable to Shrek and the story line is comparable. Yes, it follows the path of a great warrior and yes it shows the traditional struggle of triumph over evil, but it's just too cheesy don't you think? The amount of angloisms (British based words and terminology such as 'bollocks' and 'wanks') leaves any non-British audience feeling slightly flummoxed, and the timescale from Beowulf as a young warrior to an aged king is immediate, which is not the way in which the original Old English Manuscript intended but also confusing to any audience. There is no doubt that Ray Winston, Brendon Gleeson and Anthony Hopkins performances were at their best throughout the entirety of the movie yet it lacks in that certain quality feel that will rank it highly amongst the greats of the 21st century. To the average audience such as myself when I first saw it, yes! this movie is great, full of action, swears, boobs and violence, yet to capture the true ideas of the poem written 1000 years ago, i feel it cheapens the memory of not only scribes and 'bards' of the era, but also its inhabitants. Yeah OK a good film all in all, very entertaining, but not wholly accurate and not wholly pleasing, decide for yourself.