This is director Robert Zemekis' version of the old English epic poem you may have read in school. Beowulf is a mighty warrior in the time of heros and dragons. He hears of an evil demon named Grendel who is terrorizing King Hrothgar's kingdom and also learns that the king has offered 50% of his wealth to any man capable of slaying the hideous beast, and decides that he is just the hero that the king is looking for. Along with his small band of men, including his second in command and close friend, Wiglaf, Beowulf sets a trap for the demon Grendel in the mead hall, Heorot, where all prior celebrations have ended in bloodshed and terror at the hands of the horrible creature.

Beowulf opts to fight the terrible Grendel with his bare hands and a bare everything else (interesting visual image), so as to prove just how mighty a warrior he is. He defeats the evil demon and severs his arm, which he offers to the king as proof of his heroic deed. Beowulf is declared a hero and wins the love and respect of the wife, Wealtheow, who he has had his eye on ever since his arrival. The king tells Beowulf that there is only one evil creature remaining in his kingdom; the demon Grendel's mother, who we learn Hrothgar was seduced by years earlier and this is why the King's current wife refuses to provide him with an heir to his throne. Beowulf and Wiglaf journey to the underwater cave of Grendel's mother with the intention of killing her too, but Beowulf cannot complete the task. She appears to him in the form of a beautiful young woman and promises him fame and fortunes like he has never known, if he will only spare her life and provide her with another son. Will he kill the demon, or surrender to temptation?

There it is in a nut shell: a very long and boring description of a very long and boring story. The one remarkable element of this movie is supposed to be the fact that it is filmed entirely using a motion capture technique similar to that used in "The Polar Express". Having watched the special features "Making of the movie" I did gain a certain respect for the extensive amount of time and effort that went into production of this film but I was not impressed enough to overlook the fact that the cartoon-like characters came across as creepy and fake. I kept waiting for Shrek and Donkey to walk in and high-five Beowulf or have a beer with the King.

Even a completely loaded all-star cast including Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovitch, Angelina Jolie, Robin Wright Penn and Crispin Glover is not enough to breathe some excitement or energy into this long drawn out hero's tale.

Though the movie sounded absolutely phenomenal from beginning to end, and for the first time, the CGI technicians did manage to time the speaking and mouth movements with perfect precision, this new motion capture technique still lacks any realism and ultimately takes away from enjoyment of the story. This new CGI technique may be the way of the future but there are still a lot wrinkles to be ironed out.