The epic legend of Beowulf

Rating: 3/10 (15 December 2008)

CGI aside, this was a very disappointing movie. Yes, I have read the epic poem, along with a translation, and not because I had to when I was in school. It's a wonderful story and a good read regardless. What ruined this movie for me was not that the decision was made to not just do a direct movie and to make it using CGI, or that the movie strayed from the epic poem, since so many movies based on great works get changed, but the way the lines were delivered throughout the movie. That, and the fact we had to turn on the English subtitles to get it all. Other than some of the dialogue between Grendel and his mother. What were they saying to one another? It felt like every line, some actors were worse, or maybe it was intentional to make them seem like idiots, were halting and robotic. Word-pause, word-word-pause, all throughout. No one talks like that. Okay, those who are hearing impaired might do so. And those in badly edited movies. Yes, this was beautiful to look at, especially Wright-Penn (when is she not?), and for some reason her lines were not so halting. Why is that? Because she refused to speak as she knew no one really did? And the actor who portrayed Beowulf, well, hot bod, but not so hot of an actor, at least in this movie. And the cast was littered with award-winning actors. Fix the sound (delete out all that "white space"), don't keep it so dark so we cannot see everything (another complaint I have, and not just with this movie), and re-release this film.