Beowulf

Beowulf is an animated action-adventure set in Scandinavia during the sixth century. The warrior Beowulf travels to the kingdom of the Danish king Hrothgar, whose people are being terrorized by the monstrous Grendel. Beowulf confronts and defeats the creature, an act that brings him fame and rewards, but the killing draws the vengeance of Grendel's mother, who forces the hero into a choice with consequences for himself and his people. The story draws on the Old English epic poem of the same name.

The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis, his fifteenth feature in a career of twenty-three directing credits, arriving between The Polar Express and A Christmas Carol. Zemeckis wrote the screenplay with Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman, and he also produced. Ray Winstone voices Beowulf, with Angelina Jolie as Grendel's Mother, Anthony Hopkins as Hrothgar, John Malkovich as Unferth, Robin Wright as Wealthow and Brendan Gleeson as Wiglaf. The production, mounted by Warner Bros. Pictures, Paramount, ImageMovers and Shangri-La Entertainment, cost a reported 160 million dollars and returned about 196 million dollars worldwide, a modest result against its budget. On IMDb it holds 6.3 out of 10 from roughly 179,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 5.9 from a much smaller group of 3,160 voters. A critics' rating of 6.6 from 189 reviews places it slightly above both audience scores.