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Beowulf & Grendel

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 16 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 8 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Foreign
Written by:
Andrew Rai Berzins
Anonymous (epic poem Beowulf)
Directed by: Sturla Gunnarsson
Release Date:
Theatrical: July 7, 2006
DVD: September 26, 2006
Running Time: 103 minutes, Color
Origin: Canada / Iceland / UK
Summary
RATING: R for violence, language and some sexuality
Starring Gerard Butler, Stellan Skarsgård, Sarah Polley, Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, and Steinunn Ólína Þorsteinsdóttir
Beowulf & Grendel is a medieval adventure, part legendary fable, part horror-story. Based on the seminal 9th century Anglo-Saxon poem, Beowulf, it tells the blood-soaked tale of a Norse warrior's battle against a great and murderous troll, Grendel, who has laid seige to the kingdom of Hrothgar, the much respected king of the Danes. (Equinoxe Films)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Rare Birds Such a Long Journey
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
The film's near-fatal flaw is its dialogue, which had to be invented wholesale from the Old English text. It alternates between sounding stagy and anachronistically hip -- with more overuse of the F-word than any two Samuel L. Jackson movies. It's a big mistake.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
Credit Icelandic director Sturla Gunnarsson for having an ambitious vision: He took a look at the eighth-century epic poem "Beowulf" and decided he could cut it down to size. And he has, for better and worse.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
A muscular, ardently naturalistic retelling of the ninth-century Anglo-Saxon saga.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
The epic poem Beowulf gets an imaginative, low-budget workout in this 2005 Icelandic feature by Sturla Gunnarsson.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck
Gunnarsson's film ultimately lacks the grandeur and wit necessary to make the legend fully come alive. Still, the film does offer certain kicks to those who like their action films infused with fantastical elements and benefits greatly from its highly effective lead performances.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Bill Gallo
It's good, bloody fun that stirs the intellect whenever it feels like it, and as a swashbuckler, the dead-game Butler outswings just about anyone in Troy or Kingdom of Heaven or Tristan & Isolde.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
We're more likely to snicker at this marauding monster than scream.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
Removing many of the mythical elements of the tale is an intriguing idea that would undoubtedly have paid richer dividends if it didn't mean relying on a heavy who looks like a cross between a Neanderthal on steroids and stilts, and an unusually hirsute wrestler.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Beowulf & Grendel has its moments, as well as its debits. Among the later is the grating Canadian accent of Sarah Polley, who plays a witch named Selma.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Manohla Dargis
With all the mystery and meaning sucked from the story, the filmmakers do what filmmakers often do when faced with their own lack of imagination: they toss a little sex in with the violence.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
To be very generous toward the filmmakers' intentions, Beowulf & Grendel might be seen as a misguided attempt to lend some modern nuance to a traditional tale of good and emphatic evil. But why pussyfoot? The movie is a lumbering and ludicrous mess.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Director Sturla Gunnarsson seems aware of the savagery intrinsic to the story, but is unable to mine it deeply, proving too genteel in the end to make a genuinely creepy or disturbing film.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Chuck Wilson
Filmed in Iceland, Beowulf & Grendel is beautiful, grungy and a little too tasteful for its own good. You can practically feel the filmmakers yearning to have Beowulf and Grendel go all Rambo on each other.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
The film is very near a comedy, and I'm not sure that's on purpose.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
While cinema may be a visual medium foremost it's also an aural one, and the cacaphony of dialects sounds not so much "universal" or interestingly multicultural as simply all over the map.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
Imagine the worst "Deadwood" episode ever, and you'll get an idea of the general tone of Beowulf & Grendel, which is full of anachronistic cursing, tortured syntax, dark humor and lots of hairy, homely, filthy-looking people.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Mark C. gave it a9:
The movie gave more to the story than the legend. It showed the human part of grendel and his tragic story and how beowulf is struggling with his problems. But the sex scenes were wierd.
E.T. Brown gave it an8:
(spoiler alert) Sturla Gunnarson's <
Luv gave it a5:
It is supposed to be an action-filled epic. Unfortunately, the movie was not that able to successfully capture it. It was a half-baked movie. On the other hand, the setting of the movie was great. The choice of actors were seemingly appropriate. It's just sad that I found the movie too long to watch. To put it bluntly, it was dragging me to sleep.
Tony R. gave it a4:
Slow moving, poor use of plot tools, poorly cast (with the exception of Grendel). The film's only saving grace is occasionally interesting cinematography. If you're looking for a slice of Viking life, you're better off withThe 13th Warrioir.
