It’s the first of several harrowing scenes (this is not a film for young children) that tap into the story’s primal energy, but it’s downhill from there. Here, Beowulf ( Ray Winstone) arrives on King Hrothgar’s shores after Grendel slaughters several of the king’s men. Things have changed in this new film directed by Robert Zemeckis and employing the same motion-capture technology used in The Polar Express. Decades later, Beowulf is felled while fighting a dragon. Beowulf battles Grendel and Grendel’s mother, then returns triumphant to his homeland, where he becomes king. That story, in its well-known form, tells of a great warrior who crosses the sea to aid King Hrothgar and the Danes in their struggle against Grendel, a monster who terrorizes the king’s men. Full of potential to reinvigorate interest in classic literature-especially among young males, with whom such stories have long since fallen out of fashion-this disappointing retelling of the legend starts strong but becomes wearying, padding the tale with plot threads and themes designed for shades of gray rather than the more clear-cut morality at the heart of the well-known story. In the hands of screenwriters Neil Gaiman ( Stardust) and Roger Avary ( Pulp Fiction), this adaptation adds a large dose of sex, nudity and moral failing to the epic poem’s story of a hero from across the seas who fights monsters at his own peril. Rating: PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence including disturbing images, some sexual material and nudity)Īctors: Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Crispin Glover, Angelina Jolie, Robin Wright Penn, John Malkovich, Alison Lohman Theatrical Release Date: November 16, 2007
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