DVD Release Date:  February 26, 2008
Theatrical Release Date:  November 16, 2007
Rating:  PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence including disturbing images, some sexual material and nudity)
Genre:  Action, Fantasy, Animation
Run Time:  115 min.
Director:  Robert Zemeckis
Actors:  Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Crispin Glover, Angelina Jolie, Robin Wright Penn, John Malkovich, Alison Lohman

Think you know Beowulf? Fuggedaboutit!

In the hands of screenwriters Neil Gaiman (Stardust) and Roger Avary (Pulp Fiction), this adaptation adds a large dose of sex, nudity and moral failing to the epic poem’s story of a hero from across the seas who fights monsters at his own peril. Full of potential to reinvigorate interest in classic literature—especially among young males, with whom such stories have long since fallen out of fashion—this disappointing retelling of the legend starts strong but becomes wearying, padding the tale with plot threads and themes designed for shades of gray rather than the more clear-cut morality at the heart of the well-known story.

That story, in its well-known form, tells of a great warrior who crosses the sea to aid King Hrothgar and the Danes in their struggle against Grendel, a monster who terrorizes the king’s men. Beowulf battles Grendel and Grendel’s mother, then returns triumphant to his homeland, where he becomes king. Decades later, Beowulf is felled while fighting a dragon.

Things have changed in this new film directed by Robert Zemeckis and employing the same motion-capture technology used in The Polar Express. Here, Beowulf (Ray Winstone) arrives on King Hrothgar’s shores after Grendel slaughters several of the king’s men. It’s the first of several harrowing scenes (this is not a film for young children) that tap into the story’s primal energy, but it’s downhill from there. Even the end of this first mayhem-filled sequence includes a confusing confrontation between Grendel and the king that hints at the plot embellishments to come.

Encouraged to pray for help to his gods, or to the “new Roman God, Christ Jesus,” Hrothgar refuses. “No, the gods will do nothing for us,” he says. “What we need is a hero.” Beowulf arrives—announcing, for the first of many times, “I am Beowulf!”—and refusing payment for his efforts to kill Grendel. “If we die, it will be for glory, not for gold,” he tells the king.

But the men are interested in more than mere killing. They celebrate with the king’s men, drinking mead and trying to coax buxom ladies into sleeping with them. Beowulf, meanwhile, has his eye on the king’s wife, Wealthow (Robin Wright Penn). He also has to deal with the snide accusations of Unferth (John Malkovich), whose swipes at the hero are grounded in truth (in the film, but not in the original story)—although Beowulf falsifies his past to retain his godlike image among his men. (The reconciliation between the two men is one of the film’s more affecting scenes.)