"Beowulf" (PG-13, 1 hr., 54 min.)

Director Robert Zemeckis employs in "Beowulf" the "performance capture" computer-animated technology he tried in "The Polar Express" (G, 2004), but to much better effect this time, and in rather thrilling 3-D. "Beowulf" is really not for anyone under middle-school age, and may be too intense for some kids not yet in high school. Though stylized, the animated violence is graphic. Men are impaled or torn in half by the vile monster Grendel (Crispin Glover), a huge skeletal figure with sinews exposed -- a tragic being in perpetual pain. (PLOT GIVEAWAY ALERT: In the film's climax, Beowulf rips out the beating heart of a fire-breathing dragon.) Apart from drinking, other elements that earn the movie its PG-13 (with R-ish overtones) are sexual. There are references to lust, burning loins, fornication and deflowering of virgins. King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins) and later Beowulf (Ray Winstone) are not true to their queen (Robin Wright Penn). The old Beowulf even has a young mistress (Alison Lohman). Zemeckis often uses weapons as unsubtle phallic symbols -- Grendel's siren mother (Angelina Jolie) caresses Beowulf's sword seductively. There is implied nudity, which feels human, though the live actors have been morphed into animation. When Beowulf fights Grendel naked, the film gets giggles by placing swords and bits of scenery just in front of Beowulf's privates. The in-your-eyes 3-D effect makes it even more droll. We see Beowulf's and old King Hrothgar's bare backsides, too. Grendel's mom is a gold-dipped seductress with a human body and tentacles. She is naked, but with anatomical details hidden, as if she were in a body suit.

"Beowulf" has the look of a graphic novel and works quite well. Narrative leaps are taken with the ancient Anglo-Saxon poem recounting flawed hero Beowulf's 6th-century adventures, and the look of the film is appropriately mythic, the language laced with ancient-sounding Welsh words. The court of King Hrothgar is attacked by the vile monster Grendel. Beowulf lands on Hrothgar's shores and vows to kill Grendel. He doesn't know the king's secret -- a curse Beowulf inherits along with Hrothgar's kingdom.