'Beowulf' Movie Preview

On November 16 Academy Award-winning director Robert Zemeckis will bring his version of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem 'Beowulf' to a theater near you. The digitally enhanced live action film loosely follows the plot of the original poem, but many aspects, including why the beast Grendel attacks the Heorot community to begin with, the dialogue between the characters, and the relationship between Beowulf and Grendel's mother, do not stay true to the epic.

With a cast that includes Angelina Jolie as Grendel's mother, Anthony Hopkins as King Hrothgar, and John Malkovich as Unferth, this film should appeal even to those moviegoers that snoozed through senior English and missed out on reading the trying poem, often called the single most important surviving work of Anglo-Saxon heroic poetry. It is believed by many scholars that 'Beowulf' was written in the eighth century, but the work has never been attributed to an author.

The movie version promises a lot of action as we follow Beowulf in his quest to rid Heorot of the monster Grendel, who has been wreaking terror upon the area. The plot thickens when Beowulf learns he'll also have to deal with the unexpected appearance of Grendel's mother.

The fantasy film was shot on a soundstage and the effects are all computer generated. Anthony Hopkins said in Parade magazine that he was amazed by the high tech aspects of the film. When Hopkins saw a cut of the film he was surprised to see himself onscreen with a full beard (since he didn't have one during shooting), stating "I don't know how the hell they do these things...the computer boys understand it." In an interview posted on the movie's official website, Angelina Jolie raved about the performance capture filming saying, "what it really does is strip everything down to the essentials of performing."

Beowulf is rated PG-13 for violence and some sexual material. Its running time is 113 minutes, and if we can believe everything we're hearing and seeing, they should be 113 action-packed, memorable minutes.

Parade "In Step with Anthony Hopkins" by James Brady

Beowulf Official Website www.beowulfmovie.com