Beowulf in Digital 3D

Rated PG13 for violence, nudity

Starring Ray Winstone, Robin Wright Penn, Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie, John Malcovich, and Alison Lohman

The movie in general was pretty neat - the 3D animated renderings of the live actors was a really cool idea (supposidly, I'm told, the entire movie was shot using the actors and blue screens, and then they went back and computer animated everything). I recall there was one scene where you could literally see the strands of Robin Wright Penn's hair in the detail that you would a real person.

I never read the classic story of Beowulf in high school - while it's usually taught in Brit Lit, I opted to take English 101 and 102 that year for college credit. If you're not familar with the story, a Danish kingdom has a curse, in the form of Grendal - a hideous monster that comes out of hiding every so often to terrorize the residents of the kingdom, killing and destroying anything and anyone that approaches him, minus the king (Anthony Hopkins). So far, no one has been able to slay the Grendal and so the king declares throughout the lands that whoever can kill the monster will be entitled to half the king's fortune. In steps Beowulf (Ray Winstone) and his crew, who easily rid the kingdom of the monster, only to upset the creature's mother (Angelina Jolie). Beowulf soon learns of the secret the king and queen posess, as well as the curse of Grendal's mother, which both, in time, become his own.

Neil Gaiman, known most recently for his novel "Stardust" also wrote this screenplay, giving him the current lead on fantasy tales in Hollywood. Although it is animated, this is definately not a movie for kids, as it's full of sexual innuendo and lots of blood, guts, and violence. I'm actually surprised it's PG13, considering Angelina Jolie is pretty much fully nude in at least one scene (metallic 'paint' covers certain areas, but it leaves nothing to the imagination).