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Beowulf and Grendel
Canada / Iceland / UK 2005
produced by Michael Cowan, Fidrik Dor Fridriksson, Sturla Gunnarsson, Eric Jordan, Anna María Karlsdóttir, Jason Piette, Paul Stephens, Pater James (executive), Alex Marshall (executive), James Simpson (executive), James D. Stern (executive) for Movision Entertainment, Machinist Films, Endgame Entertainment
directed by Sturla Gunnarsson
starring Gerard Butler, Ingvar Eggert Siguršsson, Stellan Skarsgard, Sarah Polley, Eddie Marsan, Tony Curran, Martin Delaney, Rory Mccann, Ronan Vibert, Hringur Ingvarsson, Spencer Wilding, Gunnar Eyjólfsson, Philip Whitchurch, Mark Lewis, Elva Ósk Ólafsdottir, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Steinunn Ólína Žorsteinsdóttir, Gísli Örn Garšarsson, Gunnar Hansson, Benedikt Slausen, Steindór Andersen, Matt John Evans, Jon Einarsson Gustafsson, Žröstur Leó Gunnarsson, Arnór Hákonarson, Žóršur Helgi Gušjónsson, Kristín Hrönn Gunnarsdóttir, Daši Freyr Gušjónsson, Egil Ólafsson, Helgi Björnsson
screenplay by Andrew Rai Berzins, based on the epic poem Beowulf, music by Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, special effects by Switch VFX
Beowulf, Grendel
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Hero Beowulf (Gerard Butler) the Geat pays a visit to his friend King
Hrothgar (Stellan Skarsgard) to learn he and his village are plagued by a
terrible Troll, Grendel (Inger Eggert Sigurdsson), who is actually a hunky
brute who has once killed a whole wedding banquet. What King Hrothgar
fails to tell Beowulf of course is that he killed Grendel's father when
Grendel was still a child (but already had a beard !?!), before Grendel's
very eyes. We, the audience though know all of that, which pretty much
takes the suspense out of Beowulf's investigations that follow ...
During his investigation, Beowulf stumbles upon an attractive witch,
Selma (Sarah Polley), who is under Grendel's protection (and who has a son
with Grendel as it later turns out), and who for some reason not only
gives Beowulf a myriad of pointers as to where to find the Troll, she also
shares her bed with him when Grendel once more attacks the Danes to have
his revenge on them, for having desecrated his cave and especially the
mummified head of his father ...
Ultimately, Grendel makes yet another attack on the Danes, but this
time Beowulf has set a trap that catches his right arm in a chain in
mid-air. Desperately, Grendel cuts off his arm and makes a getaway, with
Beowulf and the Danes in hot pursuit. Finally, Beowulf finds Grendel in
his cave, dead ... but all of a sudden he is attacked by a topless woman
covered in bodypaint who lives in the sea - call me ignorant for not
knowing the Beowulf-epic, but I have no idea what she's supposed to
be and how she fits into the story, and the movie goes to great length at
not explaining it -, but Beowulf kills her too. Then Grendel's little son
(who unlike his dad is not bearded as a kid) wants to fight Beowulf, but
Beowulf refuses and gives Grendel, who has essentially been wronged by the
Danes, a warrior's burial ...
The Beowulf-epic sounds like excellent stuff for an epic fantasy
movie, Beowulf & Grendel however is anything but: All the
fantasy elements of the story are downplayed, the creepy atmosphere the
plot almost cries out for is virtually non-existent, the camerawork makes
little use of the impressive landscapes and is on picture postcard level
at best, the characters are uniformly one-dimensional and uninteresting,
and especially the approach to Grendel himself, who's more of a tragic
figure than an actual monster, is less than sympathetic.
Nothing more than a dull failure which is really a pity given the
source material ...
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