Although this may be better placed in the Reviews Thread (and mods feel free to move it if you deem it necessary), I hope some interesting discussion shall take place that would derail the Reviews Thread if confined there. I haven't read Beowulf, but a couple of hours ago I saw the film. I think the film was excellent. Normally, I can't be bothered to write a review of... anything, as I always feel such a review should be reasonably long. However, the film proved to be good enough in my opinion to encourage me to write this. This thread is intended for Beowulf in general: the film, the poem and anything else pertaining to Beowulf. The film's running time is approximately 114 minutes long (2 hours minus 6 minutes) and is rated '12a' in the UK, 'PG-13' in the US and 'M' in Australia.
The poem is considered an epic and a classic and this film is certainly epic and worthy of becoming a classic. From the outset, I was astounded at the incredibly realistic animation (Robert Zemeckis has also used this technique in The Polar Express. At many points in the film, I found myself wondering if a snippet of live action had been snuck in, and, for all I know, perhaps it was. At first this flashy display of animation seemed unnecessary, but upon seeing a grotesque creature graphically rip a man in half, I no longer felt as such. It's this detailed computer-assisted imagery that could make the film a milestone in animation in years to come.
For an animated (a heck of a long animated) film, it is comparatively gruesome. Men are ripped in half, the aforementioned creature looks half-decomposed, torrents of blood flow realistically from monsters. Due to the realism of it, one arguably sees Angelina Jolie's breasts, which she admitted she wouldn't let her children see. The film is rated a '12a' here, meaning it is recommended for those 12 and over, but under-12s may be allowed to see it with an adult. The '12a' rating only applies to cinemas; once a film is released on DVD, VHS etc. its rating is simply '12'. As such, I was expecting the film to be an excessively violent, shallow butchering of the epic.
How wrong I was. The story, for a film animation, is told incredibly maturely; integral to the plot are themes of adultery and true to the poem, it's a tragedy. Despite all the characters being animated, and at least two of them being monsters, they can evoke surprising emotional responses. When the first anatagonist died, I felt a little pity, despite it being a repulsive thing. When Beowulf died, I was saddened and was roused every time he shouted "I am Beowulf". The gore was kept surprisingly low. This is not to say it wasn't there and that it wasn't shown off, merely that more screen time seems to be given to more sedate conversation between characters, though I don't recall there being any very long dialogues. I think the film struck a good balance between the two to keep people looking for either one or both happy.
Complementing the film's animation and storytelling is the soundtrack. Wonderful singing and captivating music help build up the atmosphere during the infrequent make-you-jump moments and throughout the film. The main reason I sat through the ten-or-so minutes of credits was to listen to the music that played over them (the other reason being to see if there was a hidden scene after them).
To sum it up, one should not be deceived by the fact that his is an animation; it is realistic and reaches unprecedented levels of storytelling, incredible literal quality (i.e. of the animation itself) and boasts a gripping soundtrack; Beowulf is not just for children, it has something for everyone. It has the fighting some will look for in it, the dialogue others will look for and there's even a few reasonably clever, mild jokes in there.
