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Considered to be nothing less than English literature's first great heroic tale, Beowulf is based on one of the oldest poems ever written in the English language — although it was written in "Old English," which to modern eyes looks as foreign as Greek. This was before the Great Vowel Shift, you see, and — ah, never mind. Let's get to the dragons.

Believed to have been written down between 520 and 1000 A.D., Beowulf narrates the adventures of a heroic Viking warrior who rises up to defend his Danish countrymen after their beloved mead hall is attacked by an otherworldly demon named Grendel. For such a fantastical story, director Robert Zemeckis once again taps into the animation technique he used in the decidedly more kid-friendly The Polar Express — namely, having real actors perform their roles, and then later using computers to animate their "characters" over them. The results? Have a look…