Beowulf & Grendel , based on the Old English poem, takes a look
at man versus monster as the legendary hero
Beowulf as he and his group of men
attempt to hunt down and kill the troll Grendel. An international cast filmed
in Iceland on what appears to be a very small budget - which is probably good
since the movie made less than $100,000 in U.S. theaters.
For those not familiar with the film, Grendel is a troll (a Neanderthaloid
human with more hair) who, seeking revenge for the murder of his father, starts
to massacre the inhabitants of a small coastal kingdom. Beowulf travels across
the ocean with his group of highly-trained knights to aid his allies and defeat
the menacing, elusive troll. Gerard Butler, probably best known as the title
characters in Dracula 2000 and The Phantom of the Opera , stars
as Beowulf, and Icelandic actor Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, whose name I cannot
even pronounce, is the mumbling troll Grendel. Other cast members include Stellan
Skarsgård ( King Arthur ) and Sarah Polley ( Dawn of the Dead ).
Beowulf & Grendel is sort of like the scenery in the picture:
bleak and barren. While the film does not look bad, it is definitely barebones
in its presentation. There is little flash, little gloss and not much cinematography,
as the camera remains relatively slow and the editing very basic. The result
is a rather low-budget look that perhaps intentionally lends itself to a more
medieval feel but also keeps the story from becoming truly engaging. The movie
lacks tightness and consistency and the picture feels like it is adapted from
a 1,000 year old poem rather than a screenplay intended to impress a modern
day audience.