Amazing ‘Beowulf’ serves up epic classic for the masses

Beowulf" is an amazingly visualized take on an epic poem. The movie uses realistic computer animation to make the characters on the screen almost as real as living, breathing actors.

In the movie, King Hrothgar, voiced by Anthony Hopkins, has just built a new mead hall for his people to party in. Their loud, drunken singing irritates the monster Grendel, who has supersensitive ears.

Grendel (Crispin Glover), a disgusting creature who would be perfectly at home in "Bodies: the Exhibition," attacks the hall every night in an angry reaction to the noise. Many heroes come to stop Grendel, but they all fail.

A new hero, Beowulf, soon appears.

Beowulf takes up the challenge of fighting Grendel. In fact, to impress Hrothgar's queen, Wealthow (Robin Wright Penn), Beowulf chooses to fight Grendel naked (with items such as candles combined with clever camera angles to keep him from being completely exposed).

Being a great warrior, Beowulf wins and must undertake a new challenge. Grendel's mother (Angelina Jolie), another monster, is upset over her son's untimely death and poses another threat to Hrothgar's people.

Beowulf may be a hero but he is also a man, and Grendel's mother (who, unlike Beowulf in his scene with Grendel, is in no way covered by anything) manages to seduce the warrior instead of fighting him.

Upon Beowulf's return, he claims that he killed Grendel's mother, who never again attacks the hall. The people of Hrothgar's land are happy for years, until another threat puts them at risk.

The creators of the movie "Beowulf" followed the poem's plotline with almost word-for-word precision for the first 20 minutes or so. After that, however, it becomes an entirely different story. Whole new friendships, romances and plotlines are added, while other scenes and concepts are ignored.

In the poem, Beowulf fought and defeated Grendel's mother. In the movie, not so much. Where in the poem Beowulf returns to his home upon defeating the female monster, in the movie he stays to rule Hrothgar's kingdom.

For all the many artistic liberties the movie takes with the story, it still offers an ancient classic in a form that will allow many more people to enjoy it.

"Beowulf" is a pleasant viewing experience for anyone who likes watching action and adventure movies, as well as those who would prefer to be amazed by how much computer animation has improved since the time of "Toy Story." At some points in the movie, the graphics are so amazing it is easy to forget that "Beowulf" is essentially a cartoon.

Even considering that "Beowulf" is computer graphics, it is not recommended for younger viewers because of the amount of nudity it contains, especially in the case of Grendel's mother. And with the amount of detail used in this movie's animation, that means the PG-13 rating given to "Beowulf" should be respected.