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So I saw this at the local IMAX, and thought it was quite enjoyable.
3d. Real, Imax-ey 3d, with the glasses. A little distracting at times, but mostly
very, very impressive. I think in the 'new age' of 3d they're going to eventually stop doing the 'obvious slow-mo-look-at-the-3d-guys!' stuff, and it won't be so annoying.
CGI - the kind where they 'overlay' real actors. Mostly very, very good. The queen chick very much reminded me of the Shrek princess at times, but at maybe twice the resolution.
Angelina Jolie - Pretty much naked, but CGI-ey. Basically looked like you dipped her in a layer of gold paint. Did the sexy thing pretty well, I thought. I'd tap it, anyway. Fake boobies and all.
Speaking of, I'm very much in the 'real is better' and 'size doesn't really matter' school of thought, but there's something just mesmerizing about a pair of enormous fake boobies...and they are used to great effect in this movie, since the Jolie part is basically about Lust.
The plot is very much changed, though some scenes remained from the book/poem. I actually just finished reading a translation of such to my son, so the plot was fresh in my mind. The writers (I'm a big Neil Gaiman fan, btw) certainly mixed it up, but, on the other hand, I think it was more of a complicated, well-woven story than the original, and it really worked. The one part that I thought was week story-wise was the backstory of the dragon in the end. I thought a little more exposition might have been warrented.
There was actually more naked man in this movie than naked Angelina. This is actually true to the original - in the first fight with Grendel, Beowulf decides to fight him in-the-buff, to 'even up the odds'. So lots of strategically-placed swords, spikey viking helmets, and candelabra. It got to the point where it was self-parody, which I think is probably one of the things that made people uncomfortable with the movie. That particular fight scene really failed to build up much drama with them doing the 'tee-hee, dude's penis is covered by strategically-placed sword!' thing.
I think if you expected the movie to be faithful to the original, or a standard hack-and-slash, or a gore-fest, or a exposition on the effects of lust (for power and/or Angelina Jolie's boobies), or a parody of one of the above genres, then you'd be disappointed. But, as all of the above, it kinda works.
By the way, the PG-13 rating is pure BS, as far as I'm concerned. This movie is really, really bloody and violent. I wouldn't take a kid less than 16, personally.
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