I had my reservations about going to see Zack Snyder’s 300 when it came out because of its creative use of CGI to interpret an historical epic but I was awestruck by its beauty and consider it a truly artistic masterpiece in contemporary film making. However, I am not sure I can say the same about Beowulf.

I enjoyed the film. The story is fascinating and there are moments of charm and well edited light-heartedness, which are very well done and do not veer off into farce. There is a dark and threatening background to the action in the form of impeccable CGI, but there were times when I felt the urge to reach forward to pick up my joystick and start controlling Beowulf’s movements for myself. Whereas 300 is artistic with CGI, Beowulf is a little too literal, which gives it the semblance of a computer game. Perhaps, that is the target audience for this film? It could be a literature lesson for young gamers who would never pick up a book as a substitute to their joysticks.

It is very difficult for me to comment on the performances of the actors - their CGI selves are generally recognisable, except in the case of Ray Winstone as Beowulf, who is distinguishable mainly by his London accent: ‘I have come to kill your Monsta,’ had a few people laughing in the seats behind me. My friend admitted he fell asleep during the film, so I guess his comment would be that he was not too impressed with it.

It does still manage to do a good job of conveying the vulnerabilities of mankind that are overcome in the end by strengths and in Beowulf we have a sympathetic hero who, with his flaws, is all the more heroic because of having to fight his own internal demons as well as those without.

Having never read Beowulf, I cannot say whether the film does justice to it. Although I found it entertaining it certainly did not thrill me to the marrow of my bones. I heard someone comment somewhere that the characters’ eyes were ‘soul-less’, so maybe that is something to think about if the future of cinema is complete CGI.