I’ve had a translation of Beowulf on my PDA that I’ve been trying to read for what must have been the last year now but somehow I’ve never managed to even get past the first few stanzas. Not only is the translation written in prose, which has always been a challenge for me to read and understand, it is also written in some weird old language. Beowulf is some Anglo Saxon poem apparently written over 1,300 years ago and tells of Beowulf, a hero of gigantic proportions, who battles three monsters: Grendel, Grendel’s mother and a vicious dragon.

Tonight I managed to score some free tickets to a preview screening of the latest movie adaptation of Beowulf so it looks like I don’t have to make the effort to read the poem after all 🙂 With the actual release date in London being on Thursday I received a few notifications that security would be pretty strict for the screening with promises that any mobile phones and other products cable of recording would be confiscated at the beginning of the movie (to be returned at the conclusion.) It was a lot of hype for nothing though as there was no security of any sort at our screening.

This adaptation brings a bit of a spin to the old tale though the basics of it, that of a hero slaying three monsters, remains the same. The difference is in the particular relationships that exist in the kingdom he “rescues” and with the monsters involved. The movie is no doubt targeted at the fantasy-action-saga-lord-of-the-rings-300-epic-loving audience bringing with it a gigantic budget, a stellar cast (Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright Penn, John Malkovich, Crispin Glover and of course how could one possibly miss that it also features one Angelina Jolie), the latest in CGI technology and for those lucky enough to see it – 3D vision.

I must say that I was very impressed with the final product. Somehow the simple story in this poem became this wonderful story full of emotion and action that just simply entertained. That’s not to say there weren’t any weaknesses – such as questioning why, for something that was attempting to be so realistic, it needed to be shot in full CGI in the first place, the CGI causing characters to get a slightly cross-eyed look, and sometimes it being difficult to understand what was being said.

What surprised me most about Beowulf was that it was not just about the big budget special effects – there was actually a genuine story line filled with emotion and drama and well worth paying attention too. Be warned though that this is not necessarily for the squeamish – there is quite a bit of violence and gore in this one and even though you can disassociate from it to some extent (thanks to the CGI) it is still pretty confrontational. Catch it on the big screen and you might as well IMAX it while you’re spending the dough anyway.