Well Deserved Praise

Purely Joyful Movie!

Excellent, smart action film.

disgusting, overrated, pointless

Regardless of what I say in this text, I want you to know that this is a decent film, and an interesting take on the Beowulf mythos. You should probably check it out regardless.Essentially, this is an attempt to tell the story of Beowulf as realistically as possible (up to defeating Grendel's mother). The idea is to show how tales get inflated and grow to absurd levels. It also delves into the concepts of cycling revenge and mercy, which is new to the tale, but not unwelcome.Grendel gets a major overhaul as well. Instead of being some sort of hideous villain, he's merely a Neanderthal. It's a bit difficult to believe, but not completely absurd to those of the evolutionary persuasion (there's also a brief commentary on Christianity, but too vague to comment on).The choice of having Beowulf look decidedly similar to his compatriots is also an interesting choice. It gives the impression that he is no different from any other man, adding to the realism of the story.The evolution of the story goes quite well, as Beowulf and his men hunt Grendel, who fights back once properly threatened. Of course, he eventually is defeated, and the story could have soundly ended on a strong note.Unfortunately, this is where things went downhill. Enter Grendel's mother. She's not a Neanderthal. She's a mermaid, and not the fairy tale type variety. So Grendel's father, a Neanderthal, did it with a mermaid, and there kid turns out to be strictly Neanderthal. Regardless of that last sentence's plot point, claiming that Neanderthals existed in that era could be argued, but the same could not be made for mermaids. That's just a bit too far. The attempt to paint realism is immediately boot.Still, if you can overlook that one tendency, this IS the closest thing to a realistic telling, but it makes me wonder what they thought the dragon really was.

OK, I understand poetic license, but did any of the production staff read Beowulf?! Nothing was right. Beowulf is credited as the first English epic and they screwed it up. I'm sure it may of had some merit as a good film, but I couldn't get over the irritation factor. Please anyone that's hoping to get out of reading Beowulf by watching this (which I clearly am not one) realize that you will fail. I'm very sure that the story was great in its original telling, so... tell it that way!P.S. THE NORSE GODS WERE NOT MENTIONED ONCE IN THE ORIGINAL WRITING SO THEY SHOULD'NT BE IN THE SCRIPT! NOR DID GRENDEL HAVE HUMANITY!!

This movie has many redeeming qualities but managed to have enough ludicrous diversions from the Anglo-Saxon poem to receive an indisputable "thumbs down". Let's start with the good aspects: the clothing was great, Heorot looked authentic; the actors were skillfully selected; Grendel's stature and acting was very convincing; Grendel's mother and the scenes with her were perfect; the horses (ponies) were historically correct; the boat (hring-stefna) and the scenes with the icebergs were amazing. Now let's peruse the plethora of negative aspects: Hrothgar was a drunken moron, unlike the Hrothgar presented in the poem; Grendel is a sympathetic hero who cuts his own arm off and tosses Beowulf around like a rag-doll; The Christian missionary is a weak moron-not that there were not weak Christian morons in the northern islands in the 10th and 11th centuries, but the portrayal of this character comes across as ironically "preachy"; God is a joke, which contradicts the entire poem's tone. The premise to this movie is an absurd speculative theory that the pagan oral story/poem "Beowulf" was "Christianized" by a tampering Christian author. This is, well, absurd. On the contrary many critics feel that the Christian elements in the poem are so thoroughly entwined in the poem's actors, dialogue and plot that the poem would fall apart without them. The need that progressive story and film writers feel to rewrite this epic poem is changing the way modern readers of this poem interpret this work. Please, Peter Jackson could you take two years of your life and produce a Beowulf movie that is free from 21st century literary criticism!

Beowulf & Grendel is loosely based on the epic poem written in the 9th century, I thought it was interesting that they did give Grendel a bit of a back story and I thought it was nice that they showed Beowulf showing some sympathy towards him. The movie had some great location shots and the acting was pretty good, there was only a few things that bugged me. One of which was some of the dialogue spoken in this film. Sometimes it felt out of place, "Don't play the bitch with me." doesn't sound very authentic for the Anglo Saxon times. Another thing that didn't seem right was Sarah Polley's American accent, this is 500 A.D Anglo Saxon times and she's talking with an American accent. The things that are in the film but not in the poem are:The Witch SelmaThe Vikings being Converted Christanity versing the Vikings beliefs Grendal not wanting to fight BeowulfNo DragonGrendel has a sonGrendel has a father Beowulf & Grendel is a pretty good film if you think of it has a new take on the story but if you think of it has an adaptation of the epic poem then you may be sightly disappointed. Check this film out.