Review of Beowulf & Grendel (2005) by Alex D — 01 Jul 2018

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.