I missed Beowulf at the movies, so in a trip to the DVD store I found it there and bought it some four weeks ago. When I got home, I discovered that I did not buy the correct Beowulf movie. I had purchased a movie called Beowulf and Grendel instead. But no problem, I thought, I will watch it anyway.

Beowulf and Grendel was released in 2006, as I later found out when I googled it. The scenery and cinematography were breathtaking but everything else was mediocre for lack of a stronger word. The minute I pressed Play I was lost. I could not understand the story, at all! Thankfully, I know the myth of the hero Beowulf and so knew what to expect, but even that did not really help much. The plot was jumbled, the dialogue unintelligible, and the order of events really, really, illogical. I could not follow.

But of course, I had to challenge myself and force her to watch for some time. I figured maybe things will get better and I will start understanding them. I reminded myself of the time I was reading A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, when I forced myself time and again to read through the first quarter of the book, denying that I just could not grasp what was going on, only to curse the book and discard it later. I distinctly remember that the following day, upon telling my wise Italian professor about this my ordeal, he smiled and said: “la vita è troppo corta per un libro brutto” — life is too short to waste on a bad book.

Likewise, I eventually gave up on Beowulf and Grendel.

Later on, I got Beowulf, the 2007 production featuring the genius Sir Anthony Hopkins. The movie was loads better than Beowulf and Grendel, I enjoyed it but I expected it to be more profound. Events picked up very quickly after Beowulf slaughtered Grendel, and his relationship with Grendel’s mother was not altogether clear until the end of the movie. The animation was brilliant, but I would have preferred the movie to be un-animated and played out by the actual actors (especially Hopkins).

All in all, Beowulf did not meet my expectations. If I were to rate it, I would give it a 6.5/10, and I am being generous because Hopkins was in it. Hello, Clarice.