The movie version

of Beowulf is not exactly the

same as the book. In fact, on
many major points the movie
is entirely different. Being as
Beowulf the story is more of
a bare bones story; producers
thought it would be a good
idea to throw in different
elements of drama to make
the movie more appealing.
As far as the plot of
the movie goes, a major dif-
ference is that Beowulf never
returns to his home land. I
believe this change is unnec-
essary. I think that the movie
could have been more accu-
rate by making Beowulf go
home after the battle with
Grendels Mother. You could
argue that they were trying to
add drama by making him
stay and rule The Land of
The Danes but in the text it
mentions that Beowulfs un-
cle and father die. I feel they
should have shown those
deaths in a creative and dra-
matic way.
As we know, no
woman besides Grendels
mother is ever mentioned in
the text. What throws the
movie off a bit more is that
Beowulfs lust drives some of
his actions. For example, Be-
owulfs lust was so great that
he had a son with Grendels
mother in the movie. This
son then became the dragon
that brings the death of Beo-
wulf. I believe this was an
interesting idea. However it
doesnt make much sense
considering that Hrothgar
was the father of Grendel.
Grendel was an ugly human-
oid creature. Then all of a
sudden, Beowulfs son, with
Grendels Mother, has the
ability to become a dragon. In
my personal opinion, I
thought this was a strange
way to create the dragon.
Also, a bit into the fight with
the dragon, Beowulf sees the
dragon threatening the queen.
Somehow seeing his queen in
danger gives him more moti-
vation to win than saving his
own life. This makes sense
when dealing with the story
of a truly selfless hero. How-
ever, in this case, the hero is
Beowulf. Being a very self
centered hero I believe that
Beowulfs own life would
matter more to him than the
queens life.
The animation used
in the movie was not what I
was expecting. Before seeing
the film, I was thinking that
the animation techniques
would be somewhat similar to
those of a Transformers
movie. However, to my dis-
appointment, it was not. I
disliked the way it transi-
tioned from animated scenes
to scenes with real people. I
feel that in an action movie, it
is harder to relate to an ani-
mated figure. I would have
much rather seen the real
actor the whole time and
watched him interact with
real people.
As for enjoyment, I
feel the movie takes the cake.
Although the movie is
strange and full of flaws, I
have an easier time under-
standing it. The text definitely
had me confused at parts
because of the grammar and
the overall epic poem setting.
Beowulf The Movie
Sabarone Movie Reviews

Is this
movie a
must See?