Ameriatch One of the best films i have seen

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Shawn Watson While the Polar Express has become an Xmas classic in the past 12 years Zemeckis' follow-up has sort of taken a backseat (and his return to live action has been met with constant disappointment). It's a shame because Beowulf is a visually stunning film with a dark, brooding atmosphere. It may not be Xmas-y but it sure is winter-y and perfect viewing for this time of year.Based on the ancient epic poem (among the very earliest "English" literature) the story sees famous hero Beowulf arrive in Denmark to defeat Grendel, a horrific monster who has been terrorizing the locals. Beowulf likes to exaggerate his life and some are suspicious of him but when he lures Grendel into a confrontation his reputation is validated and he quickly becomes the reigning monarch. Many decades later Grendel's mother reveals a shocking secret and threatens Beowulf's kingdom with total destruction.This is not the family-friendly viewing of the Pole Ex. Beowulf is brutal, bloody, very gory, and sometimes hard to watch. Grendel is one of the most gruesome, ugliest monsters ever to appear in a movie but Crispin Glover's typically eccentric performance (after settling a years-long feud with Zemeckis over BTTF 2) is harrowing and sympathetic. He may be a merciless killer but it's very hard not to feel sorry for him. Themes of surrendering to wicked temptation, regret, and mortality continue to resonate to this day. In fact, I honestly cannot think of any other work of fiction that has had as much influence on literature, history, and even popular culture (other than the Bible) as the ancient poem by Anonymous.Alan Silvestri's score is, as usual, highly involving and emotional lending a huge weight to the cold, lonely feel of the movie. Ray Winstone is the perfect actor to bring a voice to the character mixing cockney charm, bravado, honor, and secret shame to what might otherwise be a hollow CGI creation.Please do not write this movie off. It seems like it still struggling to find an audience despite being one of my favorite of Zemeckis' career.

Jason Kennedy Luttgens Ah "Beowulf" great story, An Balls out Anglo-Saxon poem from long ago. Ah Robert Zemeckis and Neil (sandman) Gaiman, two enormously overrated hacks. Hence we have "Beowulf" the cheesy cartoon! I know, some are screaming it's CGI! Big, fat hair deal, it's animated, for the most part badly, I do give this cartoon a 5, largely because it has one kick-ass dragon! But dozy is it dumb.Beowulf, voiced by Ray Winstone but bearing no resemblance to the pudgy actor, is a conceited, boastful lying pig-ape in this cartoon who roams bout with his fellow geeks, oops sorry, Geats, offering to slay monsters and demons in return for women or gold. Yeah, what a hero. His BFF is Hamish, sorry Waflig, or some such dippy name, it's Hamish from "Braveheart" Honest. At the beleaguered hall of Santa Claus, oops again sorry, it's Hrothgar, voiced by Anthony Hopkins, apparently he's started drinking again. King Santa had a young queen who looks like an uncomfortable waxen cross breed between Meryl Streep and Robin Wright if she was fat and wore a bad wig. Anyhoo, Hrothgar made some mistake sand his hall is being bitch-smacked by the monster Grendel who looks rather like a knobby troll.Naturally Beobreath rips Grendel and wins the day. For some reasons no explained by this cartoon he goes to see GRendel's Mom, voiced in a Russian accent by Agnelina Jolie. Ah Good ole Bob Zemeckis, he gives us the cartoon asses of Hopkins and Winstone, but Angie? Nah, gold dipped and phony as hell. Sigh.After Hrothgar drowns in his corn flakes, Beowuss becomes king. Flash forward ma ny years, we don't' know how many, and Beo has a queen and a girl Urusla, who looks like a min-me of the queen. Princess? Daughter, no just some bitch for Beoballs to hammer at night when he gets bored with Robin, er Wealthrow, Uh-huh, again what a great "hero" he is! Well he's sinned big time too and that comes back to bite him in his still tight and curiously hairless rear.Ugh, there are some pluses here, some dynamic action, some rousing songs, but it's all misogynistic and dumb and well it's a freakin cartoon! It's also waay long and simplistic. Even the ending is kinda vague, though most epic poems or sagas if you prefer, were vague in their endings, i. e. GAwain and the Green Knight. Anyhoo, check "Beowulf' the cartoon if you liked "Brave" pretty similar and again the Dragon is awesome!! 15yold boys may rate this much higher.

Robot_Kitty No..just no. I am a die-hard fan of the epic Beowulf, and this movie could have been amazing - had they named it anything but Beowulf. The positives:The voice work is perfect and brings every character to life in such a way that the viewer will feel the emotions the characters feel.The animation is extremely well done - at points I could not believe I was watching CGI characters..I loved how they shot the action scenes as they had the right degree of grittiness without being excessive. The musical score is powerful - it accentuates the battles and grandiose character of the film.Now for why I disliked the film so much:I was a bit put off by their representation of Hrothgar, as they made him appear to be nothing more than a bumbling drunken oaf who could not keep his paws off of Wealtheow - this is not at all accurate. Further, I was dismayed at the proclamation that Grendel is "Hrothgar's shame" because he could have no children with Wealtheow - again this is not true, he had not one child, but TWO by Wealtheow - Hreðric and Hroðmund. They completely glossed over the important characterization of Hrothgar as a good king, a generous king, and an honorable man; this greatly detracts from his character and the viewer's understanding of WHY his people loved him so much. They did not love him because he was a stereotypical grunting, lecherous, old fat guy, despite what is shown here. I tolerated their interpretation of how Grendel looked. Though, he's not supposed to be some awkward half-cooked baby creature. He's the malformed seed of Cain. I disagree with the direction they took regarding Grendel's motives for killing the men in Heorot(which I felt could have been far more majestic, like it was in the poem). Grendel is not driven mad by the singing, he is driven mad by the fact that he was an outcast from their society - he had no culture to belong to so he sought to ruin the society and culture of Hrothgar's people. Grendel is a warning to those who are cast out of their hall. Now in the film, Grendel really has no motivation for killing the people in Heorot other than the fact that, "he's a monster who dislikes noise so he kills the noisy people." I further disagree with their portraying Beowulf as, essentially, a borderline liar. He ripped Grendel's arm off with raw power - that's why he's such an astonishing man who's wearing dazzling armor(which is significant because he earned all of that armor through martial prowess). This is why no other man could kill Grendel - no other man possessed the raw physical power of Beowulf. In this film, he ripped it off with a chain tied to a post, then claimed he ripped it off with his bare hands. We have no reason to doubt the narrator of the Beowulf poem, so I do not understand why the writer of the film decided to add this. It's completely unnecessary, and my only conclusion is that the writer must be pandering to some ludicrous modernistic mentality of, "well, something that amazing could not REALLY happen, so he must be embellishing."The scene with Grendel's mother is offensive to anyone who's a fan of Beowulf. This scene obliterates the entire confrontation and significance behind it. Beowulf is not some lecherous imbecile who falls prey to the wiles of a monster begging him to procreate with her. Grendel's mother is not some sexy succubus who seduces men and kills them. Also, the entire persona of Beowulf is that he's MORE than just a man in every aspect. This scene is beyond ridiculous. It's insulting to the original source material and to anyone who's a fan of said source material. Beowulf then blatantly lies to Hrothgar's face about killing Grendel's mother, thus discrediting his character as being honorable and praiseworthy. Not to mention Wiglaf is killed, Beowulf's beloved companion, by Grendel's mother specifically because he is Beowulf's beloved companion. This does not happen in the movie. Instead, a bunch of nameless characters are slaughtered while Beowulf sleeps and then Beowulf decides to kill Grendel's mother because, well, she is Grendel's mother and still plaguing Heorot. Then, just to punch everyone who loves Beowulf right between the eyes, the writer creates a scenario in which the dragon Beowulf faces at the end of the tale...is...the..spawn of..Grendel's mother. Why? I cannot fathom WHY the writer believed this was a good idea. The reason Beowulf goes to fight the dragon is not because he's trying to right some wrong he committed (because men are just lecherous individuals unable to control themselves from sexing a demon), it's because he cannot give up his desire for glory. It is a cycle that will end up leaving his people without a ruler just when they need a ruler most. It is a message against seeking personal glory at the expense of your people.I am greatly disappointed in one of my favorite authors - Neil Gaiman, for perverting Beowulf. I cannot, and will not, recommend this film to anyone who has read and enjoyed Beowulf. That being said, I would recommend to someone who has never come in to contact with the source material, and does not mind watching a retelling of the tale(with the precaution that it is not really an accurate retelling).

apocalysque This was absolutely the worst adaptation of any story ever in the history of man. I urge you not to waste your time on this piece of garbage. From the horrible accents to the inaccuracies in the story line, this filth takes low to a new level. I watched it for free on Netflix and STILL want my money back. The animation was pretty, but that's about the only redeeming quality of the movie. If there was an option to give a negative score, this would be the movie for it. I don't think the English language has enough negative adjectives to describe the awfulness of this movie, and I wish someone had warned me before I watched it. at no point in this movie did I feel I received any entertainment value. I award it no points and may God have mercy on your soul should you decide to watch it after reading this review.