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Beowulf & Grendel (2005)
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Reviews Counted:33
Fresh:16
Rotten:17
Average Rating:5.4/10
Consensus: Despite the impressive Icelandic scenery, Beowulf And Grendel fails to find its footing in the transition from epic tale to the big screen.
Theatrical Release:Jul 7, 2006 Limited
Synopsis: Out of allegiance to the King Hrothgar, the much respected Lord of the Danes, Beowulf leads a troop of warriors across the sea to rid a village of the marauding monster. The monster, Grendel, is... [More]
Starring: Stellan Skarsgaard, Gerard Butler, Sarah Polley
Director: Sturla Gunnarsson
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Reviews for Beowulf & Grendel
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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The thrilling beauty of this reading of Beowulf is that it makes [the characters] feel modern... These people live in the real world, not in a fable and not in a history book. Full Review |
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 2.5/5 |
ridiculous Full Review |
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2.5/5 |
Click to read the article Full Review |
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3.5/5 |
Gunnarsson has made a film that would make the real Beowulf and Grendel, if they ever really existed, quite proud. Full Review |
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3/4 |
A fascinating trip to the dark ages and a good story well told Full Review |
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2/4 |
Trying to give us the true story behind the epic, the movie only reminds us of why humans write epics in the first place. Full Review |
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3/5 |
If you're game for a strange and beautiful-looking new version of the (very) old legend, you can safely give this one a rental. Full Review |
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2/5 |
Beowulf's reality-driven approach suffers for lack of scope and questionable poetic license. Full Review |
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[You can] feel the filmmakers yearning to have Beowulf and Grendel go all Rambo on each other. Instead, they keep pulling back for more Old English angst, as if they’re torn between commerce and winning the approval of their high school English teacher. Full Review |
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...realistic, [but] Polley...is woefully miscast. Full Review |
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2/5 |
Aside from some nice Icelandic scenery, Beowulf & Grendel is a ludicrous botch. Full Review |
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3/4 |
A semi-mythic period piece, Beowulf & Grendel offers sublime scenery that's breathtaking and bone-chilling. Full Review |
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2/4 |
This gristle-intensive R-rated version of Beowulf travels a predictable revisionist route. Full Review |
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B |
A muscular, ardently naturalistic retelling of the ninth-century Anglo-Saxon saga. Full Review |
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C+ |
Andrew Rai Berzins' script spruces up long stretches of Old English with unexpected bursts of cussing and gleeful vulgarity that feel as misguided as everything else in the film. Full Review |
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Sturla Gunnarsson's film ultimately lacks the grandeur and wit necessary to make the legend fully come alive. Full Review |
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3.2/5 |
We've got a surprisingly multilayered drama Full Review |
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2.5/4 |
Sturla Gunnarsson's adaptation... despite some pretty awful special-effects makeup [is] a pretty good -- and good-looking -- version of the tale. Full Review |
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2/4 |
Unfortunately, there is... jarringly contemporary English dialogue... laced with F-bombs and humor straight out of a Monty Python movie. Full Review |
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