This adaption of the famous poem portrays Beowulf (the hero) as a sentimental people's poet, and Grendel (the 6 foot 6 ogre) as a misunderstood victim. I think they could have used forced perspective to make Grendel a tad more intimidating. There was a lot to like in the acting, fight sequences, sets and costumes. But the major letdown for me was the storytelling. It really didn't feel focused and a lot of scenes felt superfluous.

We watched it in class after we read the story. It was pretty good.

The other Beowulf is terrible, this is offensive As I recall, the plot of the original begins with Grendel, a scaly beast with literal fire in his veins is savagely massacring Danes sleeping in their lords hall (did the poem mention that the Danes had killed Grendel's father? I don't recall, this was certainly beyond justice as a blood feud) So anyway, Beowulf comes from Gotland to aid his friends, proves himself not only bold but quite a wise and good man, slays the beast, then he's obliged to kill Grendel's mother to finally end the terror Afterwards he battles a dragon on a mountain top and dies valiantly This film however begins with a motley crew of Danes attacking a poor, lame troll who manages to put his son, Grendel, to safety before being brutally murdered… And so forth So instead of a story of a hero protecting the innocent it's a victim fetish film I highly recommend "The Northman" if you want a properly executed story exploring the tragic nihilism of the compulsory blood feud, that film forms a proper bridge from barbarism to stoic enlightenment

In my ongoing effort to right the critical wrongs of Rotten Tomatoes let me now celebrate the remarkable Beowulf and Grendel, a profoundly poetic and deeply authentic immersive retelling of the ancient Germanic saga. This version is stunningly beautiful, visually and linguistically. Shot in Iceland's epically primordial landscapes, the film also captures the mind-blowing oral power of the original poem, including all the ribald humour, the intense creativity, the tribal glories and the eternal themes. Gerard Butler is perfectly cast as the heroic yet self-aware and inquisitive Beowulf. Stellan Skasgard is great as the failing drunken King Hrothgar, and the monster Grendel is played by Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson with unforgettable cro-magnon power. The only false note is Sarah Polley, who looks but regrettably does not sound the part of the witch. Overall this is a great action film, a rich historical drama, and a memorable tribute to one of the great surviving poems of Old English. You need to work a bit, because they don't spoon feed you, but for those with the will and the ears and the imagination to dive in, the rewards are enormous. 5 stars.

This film is possibly the worst screen adaption of Beowulf. It's even worse than 1999's the 13th Warrior. Here the villain is the sympathetic hero and the hero, so called, is a weakling and a nobody.

Some of the actors are solid but that must have been where all the money went.

Beo-woof this is bad.

Brilliant adoptation of the Viking Age saga. Historically accurate costumes and settings, wind-swept landscapes, sarcastic humour and overall great acting!

It's a damn sight better then most viking films. It's not the most historicaly accurate film but it's not suppose to be. It's based off the old original story of Beowulf. The one I read in school. And it's a good adaptation. There is a fair amount of sex added. There is a reasonable amount of violence. The acting is reasonable. Gerald butlers performance is fair. If you like the original Chronicle, give it a watch.

Good cast, impressive Icelandic scenery, but very poor dialogues and very loose plot. As many reviewers have said, this movie is not comprehensive enough. Overall, this is a rotten movie, a movie you wouldn't want to watch again. That said, Beowulf (Gerard Butler) is a hero with whom it is easy to identify as a man and Selma (Sarah Polley) is a mersmerizing witch. I even dreamed about her right after the film!

Monty Python and the holly grail meets 300

One of the better movie versions I've seen so far of telling the story of Beowulf.

Not a bad little piece, but sort of out of its time. If it wasn't for the cast (and what a cast) I would have assumed this movie was made at least a decade earlier than it actually was. The dialogue's mix of contemporary and faux medieval was also particularly odd, and the effects were... I don't want to say bad... But, again, seems like the sort of quality that might have come about in the early 90s more than mid 00s.

WARNING: This review contains a minor spoiler. Though a bit slow-moving in the first half, the film is redeemed by the beautiful cinematography throughout and the creative plot twists in the second half. The writer¿s question seems to have been, What might the Beowulf story have been like, first, without the superficial Christian overlay and, second, had Beowulf had a marginalized companion to confide in and in whose presence he could drop the crude airs required of his warrior culture. The cleverest scene is at the very end when, as the recently baptized Thorkel weaves the recent events into a verse tail (with crude Christian metaphors), one of the warriors mutters, Thorkel's tale is the Beowulf that we and the world have received. Andrew Berzins's tale, on the other hand, is an imagining of Beowulf without the moralizing of the Church and the boasting of the mead hall: a conflicted Beowulf who learns compassion and acceptance. I found it rather pleasing to stumble on such a theme in an action-adventure film.

I thought it was a kick ass movie

Nice periodic setting and costumes failed to provide a comprehensive story, the violence was shocking for sure but all the bad sound effects and dialogues rendered this a could-be-improved epic.

FAR better movie than the Zemeckis's movie Beowulf. I Found Beowulf and Grendel to be a decent film that is closer to the actually mythology then the Zemeckis movie will ever be. I found the characters to be pretty realistic the hero was not 100% made out what the myth was making him into ..He had actual feet of clay...The king and Queen were totally realistic in my opinion. Grendel was not entirely the monster he had just cause for his revenge...This film was more true to life of what was going on in the 700's.

Terrible! Far from the actual story of Beowulf and Grendel. A troll?!! are you serious??? Grendel was never a troll. They also took Grendel's mother out of the story. 2 hours of my life wasted.

It was ballsy to try to work with this but that doesn't excuse the failure.

Well done, but hard to understand. No subtitles available, so why certain things happened aren't really clear to me. But, the attempt at storytelling was really good..