Something familiar here. Let me think...
Ah yes, I remember. The name of the king is Rothgar and his kingdom (a small walled village really) is Heorot. Why this is a Science Fiction origin story for the Beowulf legend and none the worse for it.
This is the sort of film that gives Science Fiction Action movies a good name. Why do I like it so much? Let me count the ways.
The Viking society of the period looks authentic. I'm not saying that it is authentic, but it certainly looks it.
There's a good rationale for the alien looking like a human being. That's because he is human. There's a good reason why he's crash-landed on Earth and why he's hunting the monster. Also why he's quite morose for much of the film. But tough, this is an action movie and our hero can kick bottom with the best of them. The monster is a terrific creation slightly resembling Marveldog the man-eating monster from Alan Moore's Miracleman series. If you've seen the trailers you might think it's a dragon breathing fire but it isn't. It uses an intense bio-luminescence which looks great and is a good idea to boot.
Great cast. Jim Caviezel makes a good hero and is well-supported by British actress Sophia Myles as King John Hurt's sassy daughter, Jack Houston as the man who would be the next king and marry the ex-king's daughter -you can see the tension already- Ron Pearlman doing gruff, tough and aggressive, and a plethora of character actors with a variety of accents, most of whom get eaten, minced, maimed, and deaded in a variety of ways.
The monster is used sparingly and some time is spent with Viking/hero interactions which some people see as a flaw but I enjoyed. The action sequences are convincing as are the excellent special effects. I've a teensy problem with the satisfying but predictable end but that's really the worst I can say.
So, not the greatest movie ever made, hence the 4 star rating, but one hell of a good time. Loved it. Going to watch it again soon. Buy it. Now. Stop reading, go and buy it. Okay, I'm finished.
(This has just been submitted to Amazon as a 4-star review.)
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