I went and saw this with my dad on Saturday. I recommend that you see it, too. The CGI was FANTASTIC, and I could only tell the actors had been CGI'd in the beginning. Heck, even Grendel looked natural. The acting, of course, helped. The actors were convincing, realistic, and good performers (though the CGI probably helped brush it up). After the start, you kind of sink into the atmosphere the film sets up, and you can't turn your gaze away from the screen. It's engaging, highly. The plot was not the same as the original story, however, it compensated for that with good storytelling, humor, and of course the acting.

Grendel was creepy, yay Crispin Glover for the good acting! Seriously scary, and a convincing monster. Special effects being used properly for the win! He was a malformed, insane, noise-sensitive, maaaaaagic, giant beastie of illicit heritage, and he looked completely realistic. And the fight scenes were fantastic, none of them were one-way or lame. Ray Winstone played the role of Beowulf FANTASTICALLY. Let me tell you, he seriously needs some awards for that. Angelina Jolie did a good job playing the role of Grendel's mother, I have to say. Though I would have loved to see the creepy golden monster form one kept seeing in the corners before she directly approached Grendel in humanoid form. Back to Ray Winstone: He filled out the role perfectly, and his acting was wonderful. Beowulf fit right into the movie, and Ray Winstone portrayed him exactly as a somewhat conceited, brave hero-warrior. Anthony Hopkins was a hoot as King Hrothgar, and did a bang-up job of showing the flip side of the king. John Malkovich, as Unferth, was a fountain of irony and plot bridgings. The servant he kept kicking around was a rather funny but horrifying gag (Remember kids, some kinds of physical contact are bad!). Brendan Gleeson played Wiglaf, the witty and sardonic (and heroic) sidekick. I loved Gleeson's role in the movie. Subverted the 'object in the background that spews one-liners every so often' stereotype for the sidekick type characters. Robin Wright Penn is a great actress, and her character was a character, not a soulless piece of property with good looks.

Now, the plot. Ohhh, the plot. Lots of people probably didn't like how it changed around the plot to suit the movie better. However, I accept this as just being part of the process of making it, and I for one say it did not hurt the movie at all and helped weave it into a strong narrative construct that helped one enjoy the movie far more. The plot progressed smoothly and smartly, and as I said, the movie was engaging. It helped that there was an element of mystery as to what King Hrothgar's horrible misdeed that repulsed Wealhtheow (besides the fact that she probably didn't marry him willingly) that kept me speculating until finally the hints were strong enough to confirm what I thought. The action mixed well with the plot, carrying relevance and pacing. The plot regarding Beowulf's errors and owning up to them was tied in to everything else, helping, along with other elements, to create a spine for the story. The beginning, the middle, and end were all distinct, but all had smooth transitions.

Also, all the jokes were great. Especially the rowdy warriors singing to attract the attention of Grendel.