Beowulf

Beowulf
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Starring:
Ray Windstone
Robin Wright Penn
Anthony Hopkins
Crispin Glover
Angelina Jolie


Plot:

A young, brazen Beowulf (Ray Windstone) promises his men glory and riches, they set out across the seas to answer a call from King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins). His kingdom is being terrorized by Grendel (Crispin Glover) and no one in Denmark can defeat the beast. Beowulf and his men defeat Grendel and now Beowulf has to deal with Grendel's mother (Angelina Jolie). After his dealings with her, Hrothgar announces Beowulf his heir leaving everything including his Queen Wealthow (Robin Wright Penn). Hrothgar kills himself shortly after his announcement. Beowulf remains King for several decades until his past comes back to haunt him. Of course I am only breezing over the story, there is much, much more to go over. If you want the whole story watch the movie :).

Review:

The storyline is one of the oldest stories out there. I particularly like how Beowulf was portrayed like a brazen youth with a never admit defeat attitude. This was shown with Beowulf talking about losing a swimming contest and why he lost it. Instead of saying shrugging his shoulders and saying oh well, he went into a story about being attacked by sea monsters during the race and it was his bravery that cost him the race not his slowness to cross the finish line.

The animation was really well done at at parts you almost had to guess if it was live action or not, like when there was a close up of a character's face but for most of the movie it was like watching a well animated video game. As always there are quirks to figure out like the "We've all been snorting coke and can't move our upper lips syndrome" which has plagued all animated movies.

The PG-13 rating is a bit of concern. While there is not a lot of blood and extremely brief nudity, which was masked by an almost comical ode to Austin Power way. The violence and brutality was still there and at times there were close up views of what was happening in detail. Also, the behind the scenes relationship of Beowulf's and Wealthow's royal marriage could be considered a subject matter for a more mature audience. I can see why the PG-13 rating was given, there wasn't much blood and no bad language, but a word of caution to parents, if you aren't prepared to answer the "Beowulf is married to the Queen why is there another woman in his bed?" or "How come Hrothgar gave the Queen to Beowulf, isn't she married to him and why would she be married to Beowulf just because the Beowulf is King, doesn't she get to chose?" Also, if you don't know the answers you may want to brush up a bit on the story and maybe some old world customs.

If you like old legends retold then I think you will truly enjoy this movie. The animated action is well done and storyline tight. It doesn't have any drag time like you see in most movies now, the plot and action keep you interested.