Cartoony Violence, Not Poetry

Rating: 6/10 (14 April 2008)

"Beowulf" has superhuman levels of brawling, which I should have expected from any version based on the story. The violence is somewhat more extreme than I was expecting. It's still comic book or cartoonish violence, lacking the poetry and epic grandeur of language I was hoping for. Instead, the character Beowulf grandiosely declaims a lot of bragging speeches.
Somehow, I thought the writers would invent slightly more plot. I was hopeful when John Malkovich's treacherous character showed up, but he wasn't much of a subplot. The monsters are truly amazing, though, and Grendel's mother, played by Angelina Jolie, is gorgeously inhuman. I won't give away the plot twist that Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary wrote to extend the story, except that they could have developed it more. I liked King Hrothgar, voiced by Anthony Hopkins, and he had more of an emotional range than Beowulf, the hero's, character. I'd give this a 6-7 out of 10 -- enjoyable and worth the money, but not required viewing.