Beowulf -- A Legend Sullied

Rating: 5/10 (24 February 2014)

This version is the one with Angelina Jolie, in which all the characters are sort of cartoonized, for lack of a better word. The word they actually use is "made with CGI." As far as I am concerned, it should be "made to look ridiculous."
Other than my observation that Jolie looks fabulous because instead of the stick figure that she has become, they gave her some curves, my main take-away from the movie is that they severely damaged the story.
The whole point of Beowulf is that he is a larger-than-life hero who achieves greatness both with the gifts he has been given by Nature and because of his determination. Yet, in this movie, the first sign of the ridiculous is that he removes his armor and elects to fight Grendel while completely naked. Okay, if they had simply had him face Grendel without armor or a weapon, I would have accepted the alteration of the story line because it would signify he wants to test himself. But naked? It seems that they just want to show the Queen being shocked or tempted by his nudity and tantalize the comparatively few women who enjoy seeing naked men.
Next, and the biggest flaw, is this: In the original tale or poem, Grendel's mother is described by words whose translation is uncertain. She might be a sea hag, or a lake witch, or a nebulous undescribed evil thing or monster, depending on which translation theory you buy. But regardless of her form, it is clear that Beowulf slays her. Then, at the end of his life, his final battle is with a dragon. BUT, in this move, two things occur: First, and this is not such a bad idea, the dragon at the end is tied to Grendel's mother. There might have been several ways of making that connection, but they chose the worst, which leads to my second point: Instead of defeating and battling Grendel's mother, Beowulf is enticed and seduced by her such that he makes a bargain that insures he will become king and gives her a son to replace the one he slew. The dragon turns out to be that son.
As I said, the link between Grendel, Beowulf and the dragon is not a bad idea. They could even have had Beowulf somehow seduced by Grendel's mother, had her give birth to the dragon, and still had Beowulf find himself again and kill her. But instead, Beowulf is portrayed as a guilt-ridden sell-out who lives the rest of his life enjoying but regretting the excesses which his bargain has enabled him to enjoy.
So, instead of merely being a flawed hero, Beowulf turns out to be a deceitful sinner whose sins are comprised by abusing the bedroom privileges of being King and lying to his people about the "death" of Grendel's mother. He also has lied to his best friend, who would have done anything for him, about it.
The ending, as to what is in store for his best-friend-become king, is ambiguous but intriguing.