Leofwine_draca BEOWULF is one of my favourite works of epic poetry, but the subject matter, which jumps all over the place and back and forth through time, is fairly unworkable on film. I was interested to see what the makers of this fairly low budget epic would do with the material, and in the end I was more than satisfied. As the title indicates, BEOWULF & GRENDEL focuses on the central thrust of the story, ignoring side-stories and the later Beowulf vs. dragon showdown to deliver a simple retelling of the main part of the age-old legend.The story is largely expanded from the original, with many peripheral characters added and extra scenes. Some of these work (Eddie Marsan's psychotic Christian missionary helps to set the film in its time rather well) but others I could have done without, such as Sarah Polley's witch. Still, for the most part, the story is well achieved, with plenty of atmosphere and a real sense of place. Somebody had the brilliant idea of filming in the bleak Icelandic countryside, full of mountains and rocks and waterfalls with nary a blade of grass in sight; the decision paid off (despite problems with the weather during the shoot) and you can really believe the action is taking place over a thousand years ago.Gerard Butler does well as the hero, his Beowulf equally as rugged as the isolated scenery. His role feels like a dry-run for 300's King Leonidas. Most of the supporting cast are interchangeable, but Stellan Starsgard is fine as the complex, tormented Hrothgar. Grendel is a more sympathetic creation here than in the poem; he's given his own back story, which I didn't mind, and he looks like a caveman rather than a hideous monster. Some of the incident in the eventual showdown between man and monster is changed and the later sub-plot involving Grendel's mother feels rushed, but I felt these problems were insignificant. For the most part, BEOWULF & GRENDEL ably brings to life the heroism and terror of the Anglo-Saxon age.

Wuchak Released in 2005, "Beowulf & Grendel" tells the basic story of the epic poem: Beowulf (Gerard Butler), a hero of the Geats (modern-day Sweden), comes to the aid of Hrothgar (Stellan Skarsgård), the king of the Danes (modern-day Denmark), whose great hall is terrorized by the monster Grendel (Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson). In the poem Beowulf fights Grendel with his bare hands and, in the second act, he takes on Grendel's sea hag mother (Elva Ósk Ólafsdóttir) with a magical sword he finds in her lair.The third act of the poem takes place fifty years after these events when Beowulf is king of the Geats wherein he takes on a fire-breathing dragon, which is entirely omitted in the film.The first two acts are, of course, re-imagined for the film. Grendel is no longer an evil monster, but rather a Neanderthalic lug who lives by himself in the wilderness, which the director described as a "Sasquatch," but – don't worry – he looks nothing like a conventional Bigfoot. He looks just as described: A mentally-challenged Neanderthalic lug. The movie wisely adds the character of a seer outcast, Selma, played by Sarah Polley. I've heard people complain about her performance, but I regard her as a highlight.The fact that the movie is called "Beowulf & Grendel" signifies that Grendel is probably going to be a more sympathetic character than in the poem, and he is. The motive for his slaughter of the Danes isn't due to the agonizing sounds of celebration, as in the poem, but rather primal vengeance. Despite Grendel's lack of sophistication there's ethicality to his killings. For instance, he refuses to slay Hrothgar and also refuses, at first, to harm the Geats. The story reveals why. As for Beowulf, he isn't depicted as a one-dimensional; he plays the detective who starts to see that there's more going on than meets the eye.The movie plays like a fairly realistic Viking tale, but the inclusion of the sea hag puts it in the realm of fantasy. What the heck is a "sea hag" anyway? In any event, this is an excellent live-action companion-piece to 2007's animated "Beowulf," which was much more popular at the box office ("Beowulf & Grendel" bombed, but – then again – it was barely released). The percussion-oriented score is great and the Icelandic locations are magnificent. While the plot is simple, there's a lot more going on underneath the surface. For details see Callmomrad's incredibly well-written and erudite review on IMDb. My lone criticism is that you can only make out about half the dialogue due to the heavy accents and muffled deliveries, which wouldn't be a problem if the DVD had a subtitle option, but it doesn't; so you'll have to listen closely.The film runs 103 minutes.GRADE: B+

timetodance0005 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!!

J Vaughn 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!