My name is XiMan and I attended the LA trade screening of BEOWULF last night on the Paramount lot. Being that there are no other reviews, I thought I'd shoot one over to ya.

First off: This film is a fucking MASTERPIECE! Albeit, the screening was in a perfect theater, with perfect sound and the print was both Digital and 3D! But still, I was amazed at how superb this film is. If it were a live-action film (which the story is PERFECT for), it would have been nominated for Best Picture (not kidding or exhaggerating) but it probably would have cost $500 million. The story is bold and REALLY scary (especially for the first hour). The performances are oscar-caliber. The score was reminiscent of "What Lies Beneath" in its ability to frighten you before the monsters do. Even the special effects (which really look video-gamey on the trailers they've put out) are top notch!!! There are sequeneces in this film where a shot originates as a close-up on a rat crawling across a beam, and it doesn't end until the shot has traveled outside the Danish kingdom where the story is set, and continues through the snow-covered wilderness and into the cave where Grendel (the monster) dwells. This thing is really EPIC.

Try to imagine the SUPERB, OSCAR-WORTHY (let alone "caliber") performance of Andy Serkis as Gollum in LOTR -- but spread out between all the major characters of the Beowulf classic! Every nuance of every peformance is there! You won't believe how real it both looked and felt (we also had the best pair of 3D glasses I've ever used -- but they took them back after the screening -- Boo!). Anyway, I really hope the performances and the fear still translates in theaters that don't have 3D or digital.