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21/11/2007 BEOWULF Two words for you, babeluvers – Angelina and Jolie. That should be all you need to know to send you scurrying off to see this movie, although the rest of the cast is pretty stunning too. Ray Winstone, always one of my favourites, is Beowulf, the warrior of warriors, and other stars include the wonderful John Malkovich, Anthony Hopkins, Brendan Gleeson and the gorgeous Californian Alison Lohman, who herself deserves a special place in the hearts of all you babeluvers. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the story itself – a classic poem - is one of the oldest in the English language. Beowulf destroys the demon Grendel (Crispin Hellion Glover) and then has to take on the wrath of the beast’s mother, who is both ruthless and seductive. Which is where Angelina Jolie comes in. Angelina is wonderful and the action as the two great figures lock horns is irresistible, with digitally enhanced action making this a thoroughly modern looking movie, despite the fact that it is such an ancient tale. As such it is a cross between the Lord Of The Rings films and old school Hollywood blockbuster epics like Ben Hur, yet with its animated style, it’s still unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. I have to confide in you, babeluvers, that when I was a much younger cyber babe attending cyber school, one of the subjects we had to read was Beowulf. And guess what? I didn’t like it. Didn’t understand it really. It all seemed a bit too weird, antiquated and heavygoing. So when I heard the news they were making a movie out of it I had mixed feelings, wondering whether putting it on the big screen would make any more sense of it. It can and it does and when it doesn’t, the effects are so compelling that it doesn’t matter. Technically it’s brilliant. Groundbreaking even. Angelina’s particularly good as the shapeshifting water demon who repeatedly temps Beowulf with her evil charms. And let me tell you, her charms are very evil indeed. A movie that scores on many many different levels. |
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