I must admit that I have never seen a 3D movie, outside of a theme park that is. So we baught our 3D glasses and found our seats in, what was a rather packed cinema. Perhaps it was the fact that it was in 3D, or perhaps it was the opportunity to see a CG version of Angelina Jolie in 3D that drew the crowds?

The king of a colony in Scandanavia (though very Welsh sounding thanks to the voice of Sir Anthony Hopkins) is being terrorised by the horrible demonic creature Grendel. A creature that hates the sound of celebration.

A fearsome warrior, by the name of Beowulf, comes to kill the beast and despite some opposition by one local villager (voiced by John Malkovich) he gets the King's permission to lure the creature by opening the great hall.

It isn't long before the creature turns up and Beowulf fights him in the nude - for some reason. Somehow he is successful and having faught the creature and won heads off to kill its mother. It's mother, a psiren like creature bewitches him and grants him his every desire.

When he returns he tells them all he was successful but when the golden trumpet thing is returned, a new and more terrible scurge is unleashed upon the kingdom.

Done totally in CG, using motion capture techniques, this film is quite unique. CG has improved massively in recent years, and although it isn't quite there yet, there were moments when you could easily forget that this wasn't a CG movie. Though let's face it, even in most live action movies these days there is a large amount of CG.

The 3D presentation, though, did make it stand out and made you feel more a part of the action. It's amazing what a difference it makes and how you don't even realise just how flat other films are until you have a third dimension. It obviously played up this fact a lot, with swords pointing right at you, but at some points you kinda wished that you could take a step back from the characters - especially the Grendel. I especially liked the Snow and Rain effects, though.

As plots go, not the greatest story or anything, but I do like that it didn't solve the problem forever - leaving you wondering what would happen in the end. Whether the cycle would just continue forever.

Though sometimes the vision was quite blurry, probably due to our position and my eyesight, I'd recommend seeing the 3D presentation - but beware the glasses will probably cost you extra. This one might not be the same on video so see it while its on the big screen.

see also:
Daredevil

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photo © Paramount Pictures.