Little troll
Journey
The hero emerges
Grendel in his back yard
"He won't fight. Because you've done anything against him."
Selma the witch
Baptism
Angry Grendel
Angelina Jolie?
Beowulf makes amends
This is one of the cases where the location makes half of the film. Shot entirely in Iceland, this film, based on the epic poem Beowulf, gets its weight and poetry from wherever the camera points.
Our hero Beowulf (Gerard Butler) is sent from Geatland to aide the distressed Daneland king Hrothgar (Stellan Skarsgård, Breaking the Waves, Insomnia). Every night, Grendel the troll is wrecking havoc and Hrothgar is driven mad. But the troll is not out for just anyone's blood. He just wants Danes to suffer for their misdeeds. Beowulf & Grendel is a great example of epic done right (with no trace of CGI). Well balanced btwn its machismo and sense of honor & justice, there is hardly any false note in it. Redhead Sarah Polley (The Sweet Hereafter, Dawn of the Dead) as Selma the witch is a little distracting and its sarcastic portrayal of Christianity is funny. I came to appreciate this movie a lot more the second time around.
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