Movieo
Poster for Beowulf & Grendel

Beowulf & Grendel

The Hero. The Monster. The Myth.

2005 · 1h 43m · R Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Directed by Sturla Gunnarsson

Seen it?

Overview

The blood-soaked tale of a Norse warrior's battle against the great and murderous troll, Grendel. Heads will roll. 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.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
49%
Tomatometer
Rotten

Trying to give us the true story behind the epic, the movie only reminds us of why humans write epics in the first place.

Ty Burr, Boston Globe
Rotten

[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.

Chuck Wilson, L.A. Weekly
Fresh

A semi-mythic period piece, Beowulf & Grendel offers sublime scenery that's breathtaking and bone-chilling.

Bill Stamets, Chicago Sun-Times
Rotten

This gristle-intensive R-rated version of Beowulf travels a predictable revisionist route.

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
Fresh

A muscular, ardently naturalistic retelling of the ninth-century Anglo-Saxon saga.

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

Comments

Talk about the film with other members

More films