Don't expect the poem dressed up in CGI flesh, expect an adrenaline rush, but not much else

Rating: 6/10 (20 November 2007)

This is an entertaining movie with well produced special effects. However, don't go expecting to have a reasonably accurate introduction to the poem or to satisfy your desire to dig a little deeper into you're Anglo Saxon Heritage and If your child is reading the poem as part of their school curriculum this film will confuse, not help them.
The narrative of the film differs greatly from the poem, changing the place and people to which key events happen. Yes the hero is called Beowulf and he's a Geat, if you know the poem, don't expect too much more than that. Most of the key themes of the poem are either turned on their head, given little reference or ignored completely. For instance, the poem carries the themes of brotherhood amongst warriors and of not turning to dark sacrifices and superstition to find relief from your troubles, but instead to Christianity and to the determination to succeed against all odds.
This movie in fact frequently finds opportunity to hammer home another theme, i.e. 'This new religion' Christianity being the cause of the peoples sadness and sorrows. In the Poem Beowulf was a Christian, but in the movie only the jealous, cowardly Unferth is portrayed as following this 'new' religion. Since this narrative and theme are nothing to do with the poem. I presume these changes are to suit the opinion of the film makers who created the movie.
That aside, if like me, you enjoy a bit of swash buckling and monster mashing, this movie delivers. However, based on the constant exposure of naked torsos and the sexual undertones of the movie and the violence, it really cannot be seen as a genuine attempt to treat the legend with respect. It is a commercial venture aimed at achieving a box office smash. Peter Jackson would have trodden more gently on the bones of the great hero and still made a movie that was manifestly better.