Moviesonline.ca review for Beowulf and Grendel

Beowulf & Grendel Movie Review

By: emily pitt


Even to a long time fan of the epic text, Beowulf and Grendel does justice to the oldest story written down in the history of English. First of all, its scope is reaonable, focusing on the first half of the story and omitting the second, which only unfolds decades later. Without the big budget enjoyed by the cast and crew of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Beowuf and Grendel succeeds in creating a world that is equally beautiful, frightening and foreign to the audience as that of middel earth.

Gerard Butler, as Beowulf, lives up to the strong and valiant reputation of the Geatland hero. He is strong, unflinching and larger than life yet retains a sympathetic subtlety and quiet mystery in his interpretation of the warrior. Through changes to the story, which are mostly improvements, the movie's Beowulf is more than just a good fighter and generous neighbor, as he is portrayed in the 9th Century text. Butler, in his rendition of the hero, gives a modern audience what they need: a hero whose actions are determined as much by his sense of morality and justice as by his sense of duty or hunger for fame.

Butler, though every bit the hero, is also quite down to earth and as natural as an actor can be while fighting trolls in a suit of armor. it is difficult to imagine that, during the scene where Beowulf builds a monument to honor Grendel, any man could resist tipping his hat in admiration or that any woman could resist sighing in affection. Sarah Polley's performance is also good, as can be expected from one who has been in the business for so much of her life. Her firey Selma, a witch, is potent enough to stand alongside even Butler's mighty Beowulf. Her bursts of passion are well chosen, avoiding the easy option of a flat character. She is at times sympathetic and vulnerable and at others frustratingly disagreable. Perhaps her only shortcoming is her failure to step outside of her usual Canadian/American accent while other actors make an effort not to sound like they come from 21st Century North America. The direction and editing are applaudable.

The pace is well chosen, as the film gradually unfolds and deepens without ever feeling slow. The photographic quality of the scenes is also one of the film's strong points, with misted mountains and sweeping fields of blowing grass that envelop the viewer in an ultra-Romanticized world of yesteryear. Never have the middle ages appeared so pleasant. The score adds to the beautifully surreal and mildly ominous quality of the scenes. Beowulf and Grendel will appeal to a range of movie goers. It has enough fighting to interest battle movie fans, enough history to satisfy Smithsonian readers and enough of a story to attract everybody in between, not to mention a quirky sense of humor that is both unexpected and invited in a genre where most would be afraid of the power of toilet humor and jokes about rocks being thrown at peoples' heads. In all, Beowulf and Grendel is well worth the ticket price, offering audiences a world of vivacious heroism, strange beauty, unexpected sensitivity and epic scope.


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