| Beowulf | |
|---|---|
.png) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Robert Zemeckis |
| Screenplay by | |
| Based on | Beowulf byAnonymous |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Robert Presley |
| Edited by | Jeremiah O'Driscoll |
| Music by | Alan Silvestri |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 114 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $150 million[1][2] |
| Box office | $196.4 million[1] |
Beowulf is a 2007 American animatedfantasyaction film produced and directed byRobert Zemeckis, written byNeil Gaiman andRoger Avary, based on the Old English epic poemBeowulf, and featuring the voices ofRay Winstone,Anthony Hopkins,Robin Wright,Brendan Gleeson,John Malkovich,Crispin Glover,Alison Lohman, andAngelina Jolie. The film depicts a modern interpretation of the poem, with certain changes to aspects of its narrative. It was produced byShangri-La Entertainment and Zemeckis'sImageMovers and features characters animated usingmotion-capture animation, which was previously used inThe Polar Express (2004) andMonster House (2006).
Beowulf premiered atWestwood, Los Angeles on November 5, 2007, and was released theatrically in the United States on November 16, 2007, byParamount Pictures, withWarner Bros. Pictures handling international distribution. It grossed over $196 million and was generally well received by most critics, though there was criticism towards its deviations from the original poem.
In 507,Geatish warriorBeowulf travels toDenmark with his band of soldiers, to slayGrendel, a creature that killed KingHrothgar's people during a celebration in themead hallHeorot. Beowulf becomes attracted to Hrothgar's wife QueenWealtheow.
To lure out Grendel, the men loudly celebrate in Heorot. Grendel arrives and as they fight, an unarmed and naked Beowulf discovers that Grendel hashypersensitive hearing and ruptures the creature's eardrum. After Beowulf severs his arm, Grendel escapes back to his cave and dies.Grendel's mother swears revenge. In thanks for defeating the monster, Hrothgar gives Beowulf his golden drinking horn, which commemorates Hrothgar's victory over the dragonFafnir.
Grendel's mother travels to Heorot and slaughters Beowulf's men in the night. Hrothgar informs Beowulf and Beowulf's best friendWiglaf that Grendel's mother is the last of theWater Demons. Hrothgar's adviser,Unferth, offers Beowulf his swordHrunting to slay Grendel's mother. Beowulf and Wiglaf travel to the demon's cave, where Beowulf enters alone and confronts the demon, who takes the form of a gold-covered naked woman. He tries to kill her but she uses magic to melt Hrunting. She seduces Beowulf and promises to make him king in exchange for the horn and a son. Beowulf accepts the deal and they kiss.
Beowulf returns to Heorot with Grendel's head and announces that he has killed Grendel's mother, recounting embellished stories of a fight, claiming that he left Hrunting impaled in the body of Grendel's mother and lost the horn in the battle. In private, Hrothgar asks Beowulf if he truly killed Grendel's mother. Despite Beowulf's calling Grendel's mother ahag, Hrothgar is not fooled and indirectly reveals that he had also been seduced by the demon, their tryst resulting in Grendel. As a shocked Beowulf realizes that Hrothgar is Grendel's father and that the demon's curse has now been passed on to him, Hrothgar declares Beowulf to be king upon his death; he then commits suicide by jumping from the castle parapet onto the beach below. Hrothgar's corpse vanishes into the sea as the crowd kneels to the newly crowned King Beowulf, fulfilling their bargain.
Many years later, the elderly Beowulf is the estranged husband of Wealtheow, who has converted to Christianity. Beowulf has a mistress, Ursula, but his tryst with Grendel's mother has left him sterile to both his wife and mistress. On the anniversary of Beowulf's victory against Grendel, Unferth returns the horn, which was found on the moors. That night, a nearby village is razed by adragon. It transforms into a golden humanoid figure, who gives a message to Beowulf: the sins of the father have returned to him (referencing theFaustian bargain that he agreed to). Beowulf privately confesses to Wealtheow about his affair with Grendel's mother and they reconcile.
Beowulf and Wiglaf go to the cave once again, and Beowulf enters alone. When Grendel's mother appears, Beowulf throws her the horn, but she refuses it. The dragon attacks Beowulf's castle, threatening Wealtheow and Ursula. Beowulf arms himself and confronts the dragon. Despite severing his own arm and losing his sword, Beowulf kills the dragon by ripping its heart out. They tumble to the rocky beach below the castle. The dragon transforms into its golden humanoid form, before being washed out to sea. A dying Beowulf reveals to Wiglaf his affair with Grendel's mother and acknowledges his son, but Wiglaf insists on keeping his legacy intact.
As the new king, Wiglaf gives Beowulf aNorse funeral. Wiglaf finds the horn in the sand and sees Grendel's mother give Beowulf a final kiss as his burning ship sinks into the sea. Grendel's mother floats on the water's surface and seductively beckons Wiglaf towards her. He wades into the sea, while holding the horn, before pausing halfway in the surf. They both stare at each other, with Grendel's mother waiting and Wiglaf tempted but showing resistance.
Though not explicit, Grendel's mother is implied to be the mermaid that seduces Beowulf during the swimming race; the mermaid's tail and the dragon's were made to look the same in order to emphasize the link between the two.
AuthorNeil Gaiman and screenwriterRoger Avary wrote a screen adaptation ofBeowulf in May 1997 (they had met while working on a film adaptation of Gaiman'sThe Sandman in 1996 beforeWarner Bros. canceled it).[3][9] The script had been optioned byImageMovers in the same year and set up atDreamWorks with Avary slated to direct andRobert Zemeckis producing. Avary stated he wanted to make a small-scale, gritty film with a budget of US$15–20 million, similar toJabberwocky orExcalibur.[3] The project eventually went intoturnaround after the option expired, to which the rights returned to Avary, who went on to directan adaptation ofThe Rules of Attraction. In January 2005, producerSteve Bing, at the behest of Zemeckis who was wanting to direct the film himself, revived the production by convincing Avary that Zemeckis' vision, supported by the strength ofdigitally enhanced live action, was worth relinquishing the directorial reins.[10][11] Zemeckis did not like the poem, but enjoyed reading the screenplay. Because of the expanded budget, Zemeckis told the screenwriters to rewrite their script, because "there is nothing that you could write that would cost me more than a million dollars per minute to film. Go wild!" In particular, the entire fight with the dragon was rewritten from a talky confrontation to a battle spanning the cliffs and the sea.[3]
Zemeckis drew inspiration for the visual-effects ofBeowulf from experience withThe Polar Express, which usesmotion-capture technology to createthree-dimensional CGI images of characters.[12] Appointing Jerome Chen, whom Zemeckis worked with onThe Polar Express, the two decided to chart realism as their foremost goal.
Animation supervisor Kenn MacDonald explained that Zemeckis used motion capture because "Even though it feels like live-action, there were a lot of shots where Bob cut loose. Amazing shots. Impossible with live-action actors. This method of filmmaking gives him freedom and complete control. He doesn't have to worry about lighting. The actors don't have to hit marks. They don't have to know where the camera is. It's pure performance." A 25 × 35-foot stage was built, and it used 244 Vicon MX40 cameras. Actors on set wore seventy eight body markers. The cameras recorded real-time footage of the performances, shots which Zemeckis reviewed. The director then used a virtual-camera to choose camera angles from the footage which was edited together. Two teams of animators worked on the film, with one group working on replicating the facial performances, the other working on body movement. The animators said they worked very closely on replicating the human characters, but the character ofGrendel had to be almost reworked, because he is a monster, not human.[13]
Over 450 graphic designers were chosen for the project, the largest team ever assembled for aSony Pictures Imageworks-produced movie as of 2007.[12] Designers at Imageworks generated new animation tools for facial, body and cloth design especially for the movie, and elements ofkeyframe animation were incorporated into the film in order to capture the facial expressions of the actors and actresses.[12] The mead hall battle scene near the beginning of the film, among others, required numerous props that served as additional markers; these markers allowed for a more accurate manifestation of a battlefield setting as the battle progressed.[12] However, the data being collected by the markers slowed down the studios' computer equipment and five months were spent developing a new save/load system that would increase the efficiency of the studios' resources.[12] To aid in the process of rendering the massive quantities of information, the development team usedcached data. In the cases that using cached data was not possible, the scenes were rendered using foreground occlusion, which involves the blurring of different overlays of a single scene in an attempt to generate a single scene film.[12]
Other elements of the film were borrowed from that of others created by Imageworks:Spider-Man 3 lent the lighting techniques it used and the fluid engine present in theSandman, while the waves of the ocean and the cave of Grendel's mother were modeled after the wave fluid engine used inSurf's Up. The 2007 filmGhost Rider lentBeowulf the fluid engine that was used to model the movements of protagonistJohnny Blaze.[12] Jerome Chen worked to process large crowd scenes as early as possible, as additional time would be needed to process these scenes in particular.[12] As a result, the film's development team designed a priority scale and incorporated it into theirprocessors so graphic artists would be able to work with the scenes when they arrived.[12]
So much data was produced in the course of the creation of the film, the studio was forced to upgrade all of its processors to multicore versions, which run quicker and more efficiently. The creation of additional rendering nodes throughoutCulver City, California was necessitated by the movie's production.[12] Mark Vulcano, who had previously worked onVeggieTales andMonster House, served as Senior Character Animator for the film.
In designing the dragon, production designerDoug Chiang wanted to create something unique in film. The designers looked atbats andflying squirrels for inspiration, and also designed its tail to allow underwater propulsion. As the beast is Beowulf's son with Grendel's mother, elements such as Winstone's eyes and cheekbone structure were incorporated into its look.[14] The three primary monsters in the film share agolden color scheme, because they are all related. Grendel has patches of gold skin, but because of his torment, he has shed much of his scales and exposed his internal workings. He still had to resembleCrispin Glover though: the animators decided to adapt Glover's own parted hairstyle to Grendel, albeit with bald patches.[13]
Zemeckis insisted that the character Beowulf resembledepictions of Jesus, believing that a correlation could be made between Christ's face and a universally accepted appeal.[15] Zemeckis usedAlan Ritchson for the body model for the title character ofBeowulf.[16] Avary had the idea to make Beowulf fight Grendel naked as a reference toRichard Corben's comic bookDen, while also taking inspiration from legendaryberserkers, who purportedly fought in battles while naked.[17]
| Beowulf Original Soundtrack | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Soundtrack album by | |
| Released | November 20, 2007 |
| Recorded | 2007 |
| Genre | Score,vocal |
| Length | 46:52 |
| Label | WEA /Warner Bros. Records |
| Producer | Glen Ballard andAlan Silvestri |
The music forBeowulf was composed and conducted byAlan Silvestri. A soundtrack was released November 20, 2007.[18] Silvestri was largely responsible for the production of the soundtrack album, although actressesRobin Wright Penn andIdina Menzel performed several songs in the soundtrack's score.
| No. | Title | Performer | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Beowulf Main Title" | 0:54 | |
| 2. | "First Grendel Attack" | 1:50 | |
| 3. | "Gently as She Goes" | Robin Wright | 1:36 |
| 4. | "What We Need Is a Hero" | 1:40 | |
| 5. | "I'm Here to Kill Your Monster" | 1:47 | |
| 6. | "I Did Not Win the Race" | 2:16 | |
| 7. | "A Hero Comes Home" (in-film version) | Robin Wright | 1:08 |
| 8. | "Second Grendel Attack" | 4:02 | |
| 9. | "I Am Beowulf" | 4:32 | |
| 10. | "The Seduction" | 4:03 | |
| 11. | "King Beowulf" | 1:44 | |
| 12. | "He Has a Story to Tell" | 2:42 | |
| 13. | "Full of Fine Promises" | 1:11 | |
| 14. | "Beowulf Slays the Beast" | 6:01 | |
| 15. | "He Was the Best of Us" | 5:23 | |
| 16. | "The Final Seduction" | 2:52 | |
| 17. | "A Hero Comes Home" (end credits version) | Idina Menzel | 3:13 |
| Total length: | 46:52 | ||
There are a lot of questions. For example, Grendel is described as half-man, half-demon. The mother is described as a water-demon. So who's Grendel's father? Grendel's always dragging men off alive to the cave. Why? Why is he never attacking Hrothgar? […] And if Hrothgar is Grendel's father, then what happens to Beowulf when he goes into that cave? Did he kill the monster? Did he kill Grendel's mother? Or did he make a pact with the demon? It was those kinds of questions that allowed us to explore deeper into the myth, and in a way that I don't think bastardizes the original myth; I think it actually is a deeper examination of it.
— Roger Avary[19]
One objective Zemeckis, Gaiman and Avary shared was to expand on the original poem as it has been recorded.Beowulf is generally considered to be apagan tale written down byChristian monks, which for Zemeckis and Avary represented the possibility that the original story had been tampered with in order to better fit Christian sensibilities.[20][21] They found this to be a reasonable explanation for critical elements to the story that are absent from the poem, such as the identity of Grendel's father, why he abstains from attacking Hrothgar, and the lack of proof that Grendel's mother had been slain.[20][22]
In order to restore those points, they offered their own interpretation for motivations behind Grendel's behavior and for what happened in the cave of Grendel's mother, justifying it by arguing that Beowulf acts as anunreliable narrator in the portion of the poem in which he describes his battle with Grendel's mother.[23] Avary said their goal was "to remain truer to the letter of the epic but to read between the lines and find greater truths that had been explored before",[24] while Gaiman commented, "the glory ofBeowulf is that you are allowed to retell it" due to the presence of many other adaptations that offered their own take on it.[20]
These choices also helped them to better connect the third act to the second of their screenplay, which is divided in the poem by a 50-year gap.[19]
Some of the changes made by the film as noted by scholars include:
This is not the first time that the theme of a relationship between Beowulf and Grendel's mother was explored by Gaiman. In his 1998 collection of short stories,Smoke and Mirrors, the poemBay Wolf is a retelling of Beowulf in a modern-day setting. In this story, Beowulf as the narrator is ambiguous about what happened between Grendel's mother and himself.
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Drawing extensively on the theories ofFreud,[29][30][31][32]Kristeva,[33][30][34]Lacan[30] andJung,[32] as well asŽižek,[35] many scholars have discussed the themes of the film.[30] In particular, the portrayal of Grendel and his kin appeals to multiple forms of sexual unease, among them thecastration anxiety, themonstrous feminine and the challenging of traditionalgender roles.[36][33][30] According to Nickolas Haydock, the film reflects the "American obsession with sex as the root of all evils", to the extent to compare Beowulf's and Hrothgar's portrayals toBill Clinton and thehistory of sexual misconduct that caused his political decline.[33] Nadine Farghaly also argues the story makes the point that unbridled desire only causes ruin.[37]
Grendel's mother is represented in the film as a castrating, monstrous female who threatensmasculinity.[38][30][36] While Beowulf embodiesphallic power through his physical strength, recurrentnudity and usage of a sword, all those prove useless against her, as she symbolicallyemasculates him by subsuming his phallus into the feminine power. This is metaphorized by Beowulf being seduced in herwomb-like cave, where his sword strike magically fails at harming her body.[39] After copulating with Grendel's mother, both Hrothgar and Beowulf find themselves unable to maintain fulfillingsexual relationships with Wealtheow or other women, becoming aged, bitter and even feminized in their impotency.[35][40][30] In turn, Grendel's mother remains immortal and young, and through her offspring she proves capable to wield herself the robbed phallus. Grendel and the dragon act as extensions of her will, "mindless embodiments of feminine aggressiveness" who represent their fathers' emasculation and loss ofpatriarchal power.[41][30]
Later Beowulf claims to have vanquished the mother, having supposedly rendered her dead with his sword in her cave, but the falsity of this only translates as awishful, pretended triumph of the male over the female. His defeat to her, as well as his bargain for prestige and glory, transmits that male power "not only comes from the feminine, but remains eternally subject to it".[36][30] However, authors have noted that he ultimately breaks theOedipian triangle caused by his destructive son, as he manages to kill the dragon and seemingly thwart the cycle at the cost of his life. This has been interpreted as a last exaltation of masculinity, electing to die inself-sacrifice rather than living in his impotent, feminized state.[42][30] He already refers to himself as "dead long time ago" in a previous scene.[43] The film still underlines the irresistibility of female power, as even Wiglaf, who had been shown to be abstinent fromlust in contrast to his partners, is hinted to be similarly seduced by Grendel's mother.[44][25][32]
The film contrasts those points to the original poem, using the "postmodern techniques ofmetatextuality anddeconstruction".[20] Whereas in the poem theheroic values of ancient warrior culture is reaffirmed, in the film it is shown to be in decline, even explicitly failing along with Beowulf.[45][46] In the film, the character laments the old, heroicpagan religion is being replaced byChristianity, which encourages weakness in his view.[47] In the poem Beowulf slays Grendel's mother and defeats her challenge on gender roles, but her film version is victorious over him, also using seduction instead of strength, which updates the ways in which the story views female power.[37][48] The gold covering her skin and theFaustian bargain she offers embody similar modern views on the relationship between wealth and sex,[36][30] particularly societal compulsions to enjoy them at the fullest, "not prohibited but demanded, which becomes a postmodern variation of Freud'sdeath wish".[35]
However, the main difference from the poem is portraying Beowulf as a flawed hero destroyed by his own negative qualities,[49][50] like lust for power and unchecked male desire,[25] which raises questions about the morality underlying heroism.[30] Despite the superficial characterization of the Water Demons asOthers, the film blurs the line between heroes and monsters, as Grendel can talk, and the dragon's human form resembles Beowulf himself, representing hisrepressed wishes.[30] In turn, Beowulf and Hrothgar are rendered impotent just like Grendel, who lacksgenitalia altogether, and then Beowulf ends up losing an arm like Grendel does.[51][52][53] At the end, although the men from the film pretend to be champions against demonkind, they are ultimately revealed to be only its very originators.[54]
AtSan Diego Comic-Con in July 2006, Gaiman saidBeowulf would be released on November 22, 2007.[55] The following October,Beowulf was announced to be projected in3D in over 1,000 theaters for its release date in November 2007. The studios planned to use 3D projection technology that had been used byMonster House (another motion-captured animated film that Zemeckis was involved on, but only as an executive producer),Chicken Little and the 3D re-release ofThe Nightmare Before Christmas, but on a larger scale than previous films.Beowulf would additionally be released in 35 mm alongside the 3D projections.[56]
Originally,Columbia Pictures (which also distributedMonster House) was set to distribute the film, but Steve Bing did not finalize a deal and instead arranged withParamount Pictures for North American distribution andWarner Bros. for international distribution.[57]Beowulf was also set to premiere at the 2007Venice Film Festival, but was not ready in time.[58] Instead, the film's world premiere was held inWestwood, Los Angeles on November 5, 2007.[59]
Critics and even some of the actors expressed shock at theBritish Board of Film Classification rating of the film—12A—which allowed children under twelve in Britain to see the film if accompanied by their parents.Angelina Jolie called it "remarkable it has the rating it has", and said she wouldn't be taking her own children to see it.[60] In the United States, theMotion Picture Association of America gave the film aPG-13 rating for "intense sequences of violence including disturbing images, some sexual material and nudity".
To promote the film, anovelization of the film, written byCaitlín R. Kiernan, was published in September 2007. The novelization includes Sigga, a fortune teller who reveals to Unferth about Beowulf and Hrothgar's affairs with Grendel's mother, and implies Grendel's mother to have been the mermaid.[61] This was followed by a four-issue comic book adaptation byIDW Publishing released every week in October 2007.[62]
Avideo game based on the film entitledBeowulf: The Game was released onXbox 360,PlayStation 3,PC andPSP formats.[63] The game was announced byUbisoft on May 22, 2007, during its Ubidays event inParis.[64] It was released on November 13, 2007, in the United States. The characters are voiced by the original actors who starred in the film, with the exception of John Malkovich, Robin Wright, Alison Lohman Crispin Glover and Angelina Jolie.[65] On November 1, 2007,Beowulf: The Game was released for mobile phones. The side-scrolling action video game was developed byGameloft.[66]
Several cast members, including directorRobert Zemeckis, gave interviews for the filmpodcast "Scene Unseen" in August 2007. This is noteworthy especially because it marks the only interview given by Zemeckis for the film.
Beowulf was released forRegion 1 onDVD February 26, 2008. Adirector's cut was also released as both a single-disc DVD and two-discHD-DVD alongside the theatrical cut. The theatrical cut includesA Hero's Journey: The Making of Beowulf while the single disc director's cut features four more short features. The HD DVD contains eleven short features and six deleted scenes.[67]
The director's cut was released onBlu-ray Disc in the United Kingdom on March 17, 2008, and in the United States on July 29, 2008.[citation needed] The Blu-ray edition includes a "picture-in-picture" option that allows one to view the film's actors performing their scenes on the soundstage, before animation was applied (a notable exception to this is Angelina Jolie, whose scenes are depicted using storyboards and rough animation rather than the unaltered footage from the set).
Beowulf ranked #1 in the United States and Canada box office during its opening weekend date of November 18,[68] grossing $27.5 million in 3,153 theaters.[69]
At the end of its theatrical run, the film had grossed an estimated domestic total of $82.3 million and a foreign box office total of $114.1 million for a worldwide gross of $196.4 million.[70]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes,Beowulf has received an approval rating of 71% based on 194 reviews, with an average score of 6.50/10. The website's consensus reads, "Featuring groundbreaking animation, stunning visuals, and a talented cast,Beowulf has in spades what more faithful book adaptations forget to bring: pure cinematic entertainment."[71] OnMetacritic, the film has aweighted average score of 59 out of 100 based on 35 reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[72] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.[citation needed]
GivingBeowulf three out of four stars,Roger Ebert commented that the film is asatire of the original poem.[73]Time magazine criticRichard Corliss described the film as one with "power and depth" and suggested that the "effects scenes look realer, more integrated into the visual fabric, because they meet the traced-over live-action elements halfway. It all suggests that this kind of a moviemaking is more than a stunt. By imagining the distant past so vividly, Zemeckis and his team prove that character capture has a future."[74] Corliss later named it the tenth-best film of 2007.[75]Rolling Stone criticPeter Travers praised the motion capture used in the film and argued that "The eighth-centuryBeowulf, goosed into twenty-first century life by a screenplay from sci-fi guru Neil Gaiman andPulp Fiction's Roger Avary, will have you jumping out of your skin and begging for more... I've never seen a 3-D movie pop with this kind of clarity and oomph. It's outrageously entertaining."[76]
Tom Ambrose ofEmpire gave the film four out of five stars. He wrote thatBeowulf is "the finest example to date of the capabilities of this new technique [...] Previously, 3D movies were blurry, migraine-inducing affairs.Beowulf is a huge step forward [...] Although his Cockney accent initially seems incongruous [...] Winstone's turn ultimately reveals a burgeoning humanity and poignant humility." Ambrose also argues that "thecreepy dead eyes thing has been fixed".[77] Justin Chang ofVariety thought that the screenwriters "have taken some intriguing liberties with the heroic narrative [... the] result is, at least, a much livelier piece of storytelling than the charmlessPolar Express". He also stated that "Zemeckis prioritizes spectacle over human engagement, in his reliance on a medium that allows for enormous range and fluidity in its visual effects yet reduces his characters to 3-D automatons. While the technology has improved since 2004'sPolar Express (particularly in the characters' more lifelike eyes), the actors still don't seem entirely there."[78]
Kenneth Turan ofNPR criticized the film, writing: "It's been 50 years since Hollywood first started flirting with 3-D movies, and the special glasses required for viewing have gotten a whole lot more substantial. The stories being filmed are just as flimsy. Of courseBeowulf does have a more impressive literary pedigree than, say,Bwana Devil. But you'd never know that by looking at the movie. Beowulf's story of a hero who slays monsters has become a fanboy fantasy that panders with demonic energy to the young male demographic."[79]Manohla Dargis ofThe New York Times compared the poem with the film, stating that "If you don't remember this evil babe from the poem, it's because she's almost entirely the invention of the screenwriters Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman and the director Robert Zemeckis, who together have plumped her up in words, deeds and curves. These creative interventions aren't especially surprising given the source material and the nature of big-studio adaptations. There's plenty of action inBeowulf, but even its more vigorous bloodletting pales next to its rich language, exotic setting and mythic grandeur."[80]
Diana F. Ye gave the film three out of five, praising the effects and action scenes,[81] Peter Bradshaw, reviewing forThe Guardian criticized the effects and sexual jokes but praised the story. Bradshaw rated the film 3 stars out of 5.[82] Ted Alvarez criticized the story, gags and motion effects.[83]
Scholars and authors criticized the changes made to the poem's story.Southern Methodist University's Director of Medieval Studies Bonnie Wheeler is "convinced that the new Robert Zemeckis movie treatment sacrifices the power of the original for a plot line that propels Beowulf into seduction by Angelina Jolie—the mother of the monster he has just slain. What man doesn't get involved with Angelina Jolie?' Wheeler asks. 'It's a great cop-out on a great poem.' ... 'For me, the sad thing is the movie returns to... a view of the horror of woman, the monstrous female who will kill off the male,' Wheeler says. 'It seems to me you could do so much better now. And the story ofBeowulf is so much more powerful.'"[84] Other commentators pointed to the theories elucidated in John Grigsby's workBeowulf and Grendel, where Grendel's mother was linked with the ancient Germanic fertility goddessNerthus.[85]
However, there were also positive academic reviews. Philosophy professorStephen T. Asma argued that "Zemeckis's more tender-minded film version suggests that the people who cast out Grendel are the real monsters. The monster, according to this charity paradigm, is just misunderstood rather than evil (similar to the version presented inJohn Gardner's novelGrendel). The blame for Grendel's violence is shifted to the humans, who sinned against him earlier and brought the vengeance upon themselves. The only real monsters, in this tradition, are pride and prejudice. In the film, Grendel is even visually altered after his injury to look like an innocent, albeit scaly, little child. In the originalBeowulf, the monsters are outcasts because they're bad (just asCain, their progenitor, was outcast because he killed his brother), but in the filmBeowulf the monsters are bad because they're outcasts [...] Contrary to the originalBeowulf, the new film wants us to understand and humanize ourmonsters."[86]
Andrew E. Larsen criticized the film for its changes from the poem, criticizing the characters of Hrothgar and Beowulf as well as Wealtheow and Grendel's mother, and felt the script to be "misogynistic".
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