Beowulf & Grendel

I may be in the minority among high-def disc early adopters, but I was truly excited to watch 'Beowulf & Grendel.' A literary appetizer to Robert Zemeckis' just-released fantasy-soaked CG adaptation of "Beowulf," if anything I hoped this film would give me a shot at proving that the Bachelor's Degree I earned in Literature wasn't a complete waste of time and money.

Make no mistake, this 2005 European revisionist take on the classic Anglo-Saxon poem bears little resemblance to the Zemeckis film. Although both were inspired by one of the most famous literary epics of all time, director Sturla Gunnarsson ('Rare Birds,' 'Gerrie & Louise') and writer Andrew Rai Berzins set out to inject a dose of historical accuracy into the fantastical source in an attempt to explore the possibility that the story might have been based on actual events.

The story itself begins in the sixth century as a drunken Danish king named Hrothgar (Stellan Skarsgard) finds his kingdom at the mercy of a murderous troll named Grendel (Ingvar Sigurdsson). The monster spends its evenings slipping into the king's Hall and slaughtering Hrothgar's fiercest soldiers. But all is not as it seems -- this "troll" is actually a man who witnessed Hrothgar's soldiers killing his father decades before. As Hrothgar's conflict with Grendel threatens to destroy all he's built, the king enlists the assistance of a warrior named Beowulf (Gerard Butler) to hunt down the blood-thirsty menace. With the help of dozen soldiers and an enigmatic witch (Sarah Polley), Beowulf works to uncover the motivations and weaknesses of his new opponent.

I'm a longtime fan of 'The Thirteenth Warrior' (another historical retelling of the legend of "Beowulf") and I found myself constantly comparing 'Beowulf & Grendel' to it. Sadly, Gunnarson's film leans heavily on the same interesting premise and concept, but ultimately collapses under the weight of its own ambition. The script has a tonal inconsistency that has the Danes muttering F-bombs one minute and speaking in soliloquies the next. The plot can't survive its weaker moments and I found myself cringing every time I should have been sinking deeper into the story. It doesn't help that the production itself appears to be a patchwork affair, held back (I can only assume) by a limited budget. The mountaintop sets are gorgeous, but some of the costuming and prosthetic effects are downright laughable. The problem is only accentuated in high definition, where the application points for Grendel's body hair, the seams in his mother's costume, and the plastic components on the costumes of supporting actors are all clearly visible.

Making matters worse, the filmmakers push historical accuracy to a fault, presenting a second act so mundane that it drags. Still, after establishing a convincing stark reality, 'Beowulf & Grendel' abandons its realism in the final moments of the film. Not unlike the similarly received 'King Arthur,' it would seem the filmmakers just couldn't resist inserting mystical elements into their "true" take on the story. I don't have a problem with fantasy, but watering it down into a dry framework such as this does a disservice to both the fantastical and realistic elements of the film. The director needed to pick his poison.

The acting is all over the place as well. I've never seen one performer so dispassionately suck the life of out of a film as instantaneously as Sarah Polley does here -- her witch speaks in a flat American accent and she sounds as if she's doing a creepy impersonation of Angelica Houston. Worse still, she acts as if she just woke up from a nap to stumble onto the set. To be charitable, it's possible that the filmmakers were trying to make her sound foreign and strange, but for me, the film took a turn for the worse every time she opened her mouth.

Still, despite these many issues, I personally ended up having a decent time watching 'Beowulf & Grendel.' There are still quite a few solid moments in the film, and I certainly appreciated its scope, realism, and expanded exploration of key relationships in the classic story. I was particularly happy with the performances from Gerard Butler and Stellan Skarsgard -- they develop a fascinating on-screen chemistry that feels honest and authentic. They're both in an entirely different league from the rest of the cast and they're the one aspect of 'Beowulf & Grendel' that outclasses 'The Thirteenth Warrior' in my opinion. At times, I found myself wishing I could strip away the rest of the film just to spend more time watching them discuss their sixth century world and the consequences of their actions. I also really enjoyed the way Butler developed Beowulf's growing curiosity and eventual investigation into Grendel's motives. Butler portrays the legendary warrior as a quiet who that knows his place in the world, and manifests the same intensity that made his portrayal of King Leonidas in '300' so spectacular.

In the end, 'Beowulf & Grendel' is a dry curiousity that's likely to only appeal to fans of classic literature and revisionist period pieces. Even fans of similar films like 'King Arthur' will probably feel this one lacks a certain spark. It may have a handful of strong points that saved the experience for me, but I doubt most will be as patient with its shortcomings. There's a great film buried in this one -- I only wish a more discerning filmmaker had been at the helm.