by Perry Cox

Created on: December 09, 2008

Beowulf has come to kill a "monstah" and release a Kingdom from it's curse. He does this not for gold, but for glory and may the Gods help anyone who gets in his way. His desire to become a Legend in the eyes of men has become all consuming and when faced with the dangerous offer of immortality his only question is, "Where do I sign?"

Lets start off by saying this is one weird arsed attempt of a movie. Never before have a seen a film were the monsters are more realistic than the actors but "Beowulf" intentionally goes for this by adopting a motion capture style. It is all a bit odd as actors you know such as Anthony Hopkins as a King and and Ray Winstone as "Beowulf" are strange hybrids of themselves. Winstone is particularly disturbing as the chiseled hero of the movie. His voice is unmistakable yet he looks like he has been on the Atkins while having laser surgery on every body part. In fact, he looks like Sean Bean! Why on earth they did not just cast Sean Bean in the role is anybodys guess as Winstone gives dodgy "Sharpe" speeches throughout anyway.

I get the feeling this is supposed to be a Greek tragedy of a film. The trading of your soul for immortality is hardly a new concept. In this fantasy genre can it can be a great way of understanding and empathising with a flawed hero. However, any empathy we are supposed to share with "Beowulf" is quickly lost as we realise the man is a complete tosser. This is a shallow, arrogant man who lives only for glory. There is no Faustian attempt at knowledge to improve mankind and everything he does is out of a self-centred narcissism. This makes him intensely unlikeable and difficult to watch. This is not helped by the feel of the film were the monsters show more emotion than the human characters. Barely a facial muscle moves throughout the film and it is always a bad sign when a computer generated image out acts every actor in the film.

The motion capture technology does not help me to feel anything for the supporting characters either. Am I supposed to care about Anthony Hopkins's King? I care even less for his Queen who, as all women do in the film, looks like a reject from a "Shrek" movie. This is a film that is all about cavorting in halls and then getting your head bitten off. It is all a bit strange as it seems to be a very serious attempt at fantasy yet definitely comes as "Shrek: The Directors Cut".

Considering the 12 certificate this is one graphic movie in terms of blood and violence. Okay so the blood is all

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