I Am Beowulf!

Robert Zemeckis must be keen to prove himself. His decision to no longer direct live-action movies and instead dedicate his talents to motion-capture and animation was received with puzzlement; was one of Hollywood's finest wasting his talents when he could be out there making serious movies?

After the disappointing Polar Express, he's got a lot to do if he's to justify this career choice. Beowulf not only proves his point, but exceeds all expectations.

Beowulf is a visually stunning, action epic based on the oldest story written in the English language. It tells the tale of the eponymous Beowulf (Winstone) who comes to save the Kingdom of Hrothgar (Hopkins) from the troll Grendel (Glover) and his seductive demon-mother (Jolie).

All the problems with the milky-eyed stares of the animated versions of the actors (a particular problem with The Polar Express, which made the characters look almost undead), have been resolved.

The detail and emotion in each character's face is clear to see, the sheen on the digitised Winstone's muscles and the weathered lines on his face 40 years later are testament to how far this technology has come.

My initial concerns that the animation might look great in action-filled battle scenes but poor close-up are completely unfounded. Whilst the battle scenes are fantastic, detailed, gory and terrifying (the third chapter's battle with the gold dragon is awe-inspiring), the dialogue between the characters is also believable, touching and tender.

Saying that, you must see this film in 3D, it really lends a sense of immediacy to the action and intimacy to the dialogue. Things have come a long way since the old red and green 3D glasses of yore.