Kids in London - Beowulf

No No NO! Do not be fooled by the 12a rating. This is absolutely NOT a film for young kids. It should be a 15. The film opens with drunken soldiers being obliterated in full gory detail by a horrific monster...heads bitten off and all. If my nine year old had been with me I would be facing two weeks of nightmares at least.

I had been seduced by the media coverage of this film but it was like watching a (not very good) computer game. Once I had got passed being amazed at the CGI of Anthony Hopkins and Angelina Jolie it was hard to stay awake (I admit that I fell asleep when I took my son to see Lord of the Rings - he had to wake me at the battle scene for comfort).

The effects were clever. But this is a 3D cartoon for adults, no, for teenage boys who have to be lured away from their computer screens to do something vaguely social.

The dragon was good. Golden. Graceful. Frightening. But with storylines such as kings sleeping with monsters (even pretty ones like Angelina) and having monster off-spring, tearing off the arms of monsters and keeping them as trophies, drunken mead fuelled orgies and then the hero himself taking a lover in addition to his wife...and fighting naked at the beginning...really - what were the censor people thinking?

Not suitable for those under 13 if you ask me. Or for those over about 13. Sorry. Let's hope that the Golden Compass when it is released proves more acceptable to youngsters - and more entertaining to adults.