History Film / Beowulf

[[redirect:Film/Beowulf2007]]

[[quoteright:340:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/beowulf-poster.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:340: HE IS BEOWULF! [[SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou And his sword hurts!]]]]

->''I am ripper! Tearer! Slasher! Gouger!
->''I am the teeth in the darkness, the talons in the night.''
->''Mine is STRENGTH... and LUST... and GLORY!''
->'''''I! AM! BEOWULF!'''''"

This is the 2007 film written by Creator/RogerAvary and Creator/NeilGaiman, directed by Creator/RobertZemeckis, and starring RayWinstone. Not (for instance) the 1999 film starring Christopher Lambert.

It's a MotionCapture UsefulNotes/ThreeDMovie adaptation of the epic ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}''. The premise is an ExternalRetcon: the story of Beowulf as we know grew in the telling (with a bit of help from Beowulf himself), and the "true" events are somewhat different -- and, in a couple of key sequences where there were no witnesses and the story relies on the hero's word alone, ''very'' different.
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!!The film provides examples of:
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%% Zero Context Examples have been commented out. Please write up a full example before uncommenting.
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* AdaptationOriginConnection: In the original poem, the dragon was a separate threat from Grendel and his mother. Here, [[spoiler: the dragon is reworked into the plot by being the offspring of Beowulf and Grendel's mother.]]
* AllCGICartoon
* AntagonisticOffspring: The dragon towards [[spoiler: Beowulf]]. This isn't the first time something like this has happened: [[spoiler: it turns out that Grendel is ''Hrothgar's'' son, and it's heavily implied that the anterior dragon was the old king's son as well.]]
* AscendedExtra: In the original poem, Wiglaf only shows up near the end when Beowulf fights the dragon. Here, he's Beowulf's best friend and sidekick [[spoiler: and becomes king when Beowulf dies]].
* TheAtoner: Beowulf becomes this towards the end, when he is unwilling to just sit back to let some other hero clean up his mess (and start the whole thing over again). He seems well aware that he's likely to pay for his past with his life.
* AttackItsWeakPoint:
** Beowulf [[spoiler:reaches through a chink in the dragon's armor and pulls out its heart.]] Now that is {{Badass}}. He knows this because of [[ChekhovsLecture a speech from Hrothgar about dragon-slaying]].
** Earlier, Beowulf notices Grendel's reaction to sounds and his large exposed eardrum, and smashes it bloody with his fist to take most of the fight out of him.
%%* BadassBoast:
* {{Badass}}: The titular character. He swam for six days carrying a sword, killing sea monsters on the fifth night ([[UnreliableVoiceover he claims nine, but we only actually see a couple -- and that's still very impressive]]), ''tore out'' Grendel's arm, and stood up to a dragon's breath for a long time and, with a timely distraction, killed the dragon.
* BarbieDollAnatomy: due to the SceneryCensor, Beowulf seems to have this if you slow down the film - there are parts where his genitals would be visible but aren't.
* BawdySong: The Geats singing songs of this sort.
* BeAllMySinsRemembered:
** Beowulf instructs this "Keep a memory of me, not as a king or a hero; but as a man: fallible and flawed." However after he dies, Wiglaf and Wealthow both intend to have him remembered as a great hero.
** Beowulf also tries to confess his sins to Wiglaf a few times, but Wiglaf won't have any of it insisting that Beowulf is a hero, and that is all he needs to know.
%%* BilingualBonus: For fans of [[HistoryOfEnglish Old English]].
* BlackSpeech: Grendel can only speak Old English.
%%* BodyHorror: Grendel.
* CatapultNightmare: Beowulf has this before he discovers the corpses of the guards hanging from the rafters of the castle.
* CatchPhrase: "I am Beowulf," and variations upon "I'm here to kill your monster."
* CensorSteam: Beowulf fought the monster Grendel unarmed and completely naked (in order to show off by fighting on equal ground). When smoke (from a barrel overturned into the fire) isn't around, most of the battle consists of Beowulf jumping around like a circus monkey playing [[SceneryCensor "Hide the Sausage."]]
* ChekhovsGun: Grendel's exposed eardrum, and the royal dragon horn. Beowulf discovers that Grendel's exposed eardrum is his weak point, [[AttackItsWeakPoint and punches it repeatedly]] to get the upper hand on Grendel during their fight. The royal dragon horn is given to Beowulf by Hrothgar for defeating Grendel, [[spoiler:and it's taken by Grendel's mother to maintain their deal before it's abandoned decades later.]]
* ChekhovsLecture: Hrothgar tells Beowulf the only way to kill a dragon is to stab the soft spot in its throat. [[spoiler:Beowulf remembers this in the climax and uses it to kill the dragon, severing his own arm in order to rip out its heart. Even though it was his own son.]]
* CuteMonsterGirl: Grendel's mother and the mermaid [[spoiler:In the novel of the movie, they're one and the same, but in the movie, they're two different entities.]]
* CirclingMonologue: Grendel's mother does this to the titular hero. She promises the trifecta of Sex, Money, and Power, strumming every chord of this flawed hero's heart and pride as she circles him.
* CycleOfRevenge: [[spoiler: Hrothgar killed a dragon (implied to also be descendant of Grendel's Mother), and then went to fight Grendel's Mother. She seduced him and gave birth to Grendel who then plagued the lands. Beowulf killed Grendel, his mother killed Beowulf's men. He went to kill her, but was also seduced by her and their child became a dragon, who also ravages the land. Beowulf even states that he won't send someone else to kill the dragon, as that will simply start the cycle all over again. Beowulf kills the dragon, but dies in the process. The film ends with Grendel's Mother beckoning to Wiglaf, so it's unclear whether or not the cycle ends]].
* DarkAgeEurope: "The time of heroes is dead, the Christ-God has killed it, leaving nothing but weeping martyrs and fear and shame"
* DealWithTheDevil: Hrothgar is implied to have entered into one with Grendel's mother when he fathered Grendel. Beowulf [[spoiler:does so when he confronts her in her lair, giving her a son and the horn in exchange for peace and prosperity. This results in him fathering the dragon and her giving the horn back as subtext for the dragon to attack Herot]].
* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler:Hrothgar was never DrivenToSuicide in the original poem.]]
* DeathOfTheOldGods: Beowulf lamenting than his people have abandoned the old gods for the Christ-God and weeping martyrs.
* DigitalHeadSwap: After a fashion. The whole thing was filmed using motion capture, and Ray Winstone claimed they put his head on his eighteen-year-old body. The same sort of thing was done with Creator/AngelinaJolie, who was pregnant at the time.
* DisneyVillainDeath: Played with. First, it happens to [[spoiler:both the dragon and Beowulf. After ripping out the dragon's heart they both fall hundreds of feet to the beach below]]. Also [[spoiler:Beowulf survives long enough to speak his dying words to Wiglaf. Third, Beowulf had cut off his arm and lost a lot of blood beforehand which likely hastened his death]].
* DoppelgangerAttack: In the official videogame of the film, Grendel's mother attacks by summoning several translucent clones of herself called dísirs who sexually attack Beowulf.
* DownerEnding: For all intents the film shows an example of the [[TheBadGuyWins villainess winning]] as the CycleOfRevenge seems to be unbroken with more monsters likely coming to plague the land.
* DraconicHumanoid: Grendel's mother [[{{Glamour}} may look like]] a golden Creator/AngelinaJolie to observers, but whenever she is [[GlamourFailure seen in reflection]], it becomes clear her true form is that of a dragon-like humanoid with golden scales, and what appears to be a prehensile plait is actually a reptilian tail.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Hrothgar]], though other than [[spoiler: allowing Beowulf to succeed to the throne]], it is never made explicit why. The implication is that his guilt over [[spoiler: being the father of Grendel]] and the knowledge that Beowulf has begun the cycle again drives him to it.
* DualWielding: During the battle scene in the later half of the movie, soldiers are seen dual-wielding axes.
* DullSurprise: Creator/JohnMalkovich's performance was quite wooden - whether due to being unused to voice-acting or what is unknown, but hearing him "rant" at Beowulf for an insult in a monotonous tone while his character model is fairly animated is off-putting.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Grendel loves his mother.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Grendel's mother in turn clearly cares for him.
* ExternalRetcon: The film presents the events told in the epic poem as a lie Beowulf told after his encounter with Grendel's mother.
* TheFairFolk: Grendel's Mother; unlike her children, who are simply monsters, ''she'' is shown to be a powerful, shapeshifting elder being, clearly centuries older than she appears, and enjoys toying with human men and bringing them to ruin. This was more explicit in the first draft of the film and novelization, wherein she was described as being the inspiration for the mythical figures Lorelei, Nerthus, and even the Greek Calypso. The novelization also associates her with the dökkálfar (dark elves) of Nordic myth.
%%* {{Fanservice}}
* FatalFlaw: Beowulf has many, but {{Pride}} and {{Lust}} conspire to bring him down. One is heavily foreshadowed: [[spoiler: his weakness for women is obvious in his memory of the mermaid seducing him, and makes his eventual acquiescence to Grendel's mother easy to see coming. And just as Grendel is King Hrothgar's wild indulgence taken to its most horrific extreme, Beowulf's dragon-son is his own youthful arrogance flying out to meet him.]]
* FinalFirstHug: [[spoiler: It is revealed the dragon Beowulf fights to the mutual death is actually his own son, by way of the same creature that was mother to Grendel. After the climax of the movie, wherein the dragon has mortally wounded Beowulf, and he has torn out the dragon's heart, they both crash-land on the beach. There, the dragon's form melts away into the waves, revealing a shiny, golden-skin humanoid. It's not quite a hug, but Beowulf looks his son in the eyes and lays a hand on his shoulder before his corpse washes away.]]
%%* FoeTossingCharge: Grendel
* {{Foil}}: Wealthow is this to Grendel's mother. [[spoiler:It's likely for this reason as well that she refuses to give Hrothgar the son he needs.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Beowulf's story about his encounter with sea monsters has him claim that one of said monsters pulled him underwater, but he instantly killed it in retaliation, thus explaining why he lost the swimming race he was participating in. However, this story reveals his status as an UnreliableNarrator, because [[spoiler: that "monster" was in fact a beautiful mermaid, with whom Beowulf slept. This foreshadows how Grendel's mom later seduces him, as well as his attempt to cover up what really happened.]]
* FullFrontalAssault: Beowulf fights Grendel naked to show off his machismo, and Grendel's mother [[NakedFirstImpression comes to him]] only covered in golden bod paint.
* {{Gainaxing}}/JigglePhysics: The maid, Yrsa, seems to have had quite a lot of care taken to make sure her large tracts of land sway and move realistically. Almost makes you wonder if they used motion capture on those as well.
* {{Glamour}}: The true form of Grendel's Mother is NOT Angelina Jolie with a prehensile braid. She's under a glamour to appear human, and the braid is her real form's tail. She also has a very powerful presence, and with minimal effort is able to seduce a man who had come to her lair to kill her and knew how dangerous she was.
* GoryDiscretionShot: Subverted. We only see the [[ShadowDiscretionShot shadow as Grendel]] tears a man in two, but right after that the severed torso flies into plain sight, innards and all.
* GorgeousGorgon: Grendel's mom evokes it.
* GroinAttack: Wiglaf does this to Grendel, by sword. [[spoiler: It doesn't work, because Grendel has no reproductive organs]].
* HalfHumanHybrid: Grendel. He may be sterile (given his apparent lack of reproductive organs), and though it may just be because he's a monster he gives a good impression of being sickly. He's hideously deformed, has what appears to be a nasty skin condition, and is sometimes heard whimpering as if in pain (though that's probably just because loud noises irritate his [[AchillesHeel super-sensitive ear]]). The dragon at the end of the film is also a HalfHumanHybrid, [[spoiler:born of a mating between Beowulf and Grendel's mother]]. This is also very much unlike the original poem, where no human ancestry was suggested for Grendel except that he was a distant [[TheDescendantsOfCain descendant of Cain]], and there was no evidence of the dragon having any trace of humanity.
* HonorBeforeReason: Beowulf decides to fight Grendel unarmed and unarmored (read: butt-naked).
-->'''Queen Wealtheow:''' ''[noticing Beowulf undressing]'' Lord Beowulf, what are you doing...?
-->'''Beowulf:''' The creature has no sword and no armor. And I have no weapon capable of slaying a monster. We shall fight as equals, and ''[[DressHitsFloor fate]]''... shall decide.
%%* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Expressed by Beowulf.
* IndecisiveDeconstruction: The 2007 film plays the myth fairly straight for most regards, but adds elements suggesting UnreliableNarrator, all sorts of raunchiness and deviations from the myth that suggest that it is a "true" version that ended up being portrayed more heroically in the myths. However it still has a naked Beowulf backflipping when fighting Grendel and being all beardy and manly and fighting monsters. A lot of arguments come up about whether or not a particular element was meant to be taken seriously.
* InkSuitActor: While many of the actors in the film are animated to look completely different than their real-life appearance (especially Ray Winstone), several actors are accurately depicted by their CG counterparts, particularly [[MsFanservice Angelina Jolie]], Anthony Hopkins, and Robin Wright, among others.
* KnightInShiningArmor: It looks like Beowulf will be this towards Wealthow. He is this to everyone in the end.
* LargeHam: Ray Winstone as Beowulf enjoys ChewingTheScenery. He also has {{No Indoor Voice}}!
* LifeOrLimbDecision: Beowulf cuts the tendons in his own arm in order to reach the dragon's heart.
* LivingLegend: He plays with this. He actually does some really awesome things, but he's willing to lie to look more awesome than he really is.
* LoveTriangle: In the second act, the King, the Queen, and the Royal Concubine.
* LukeYouAreMyFather: [[spoiler:The Dragon reveals to Beowulf that they are actually father and son]]. However this happens in a dream before their first encounter.
%%* MadnessMantra: "Sins of the fathers!"
* MadeOfPlasticine: Grendel's arm gives out somewhat easily to the door slamming on it, being ripped out clean. However, given his clearly malformed/ill physiology, his flesh might be effectively softer than human flesh when in normal size.
* MayDecemberRomance: Beowulf and his "bedwarmer" Ursula [[spoiler:after Wealtheow learned that he had a fling with Grendel's mother, she became emotionally estranged from him and gave him the Lysistrata treatment, like with what happened between her and her late first-husband/Beowulf's predecessor Hrothgar, for the same reason.]]
* TheMountainsOfIllinois: Denmark does have a couple of hills in real life (the highest natural point being 122.9 meters, or 403.21 feet, up), but it's nowhere near as mountainous as this film suggests.
* NippleAndDimed: This film can show full frontal [[Creator/AngelinaJolie Jolie]] and still get a PG-13 rating if they cover her nipples with a bit of gold paint.
* NoNameGiven: Neither Grendel's mother or the dragon are named, they're only referred to as 'Grendel's mother' and 'dragon'. While the same is true in the poem, the novel of the film implies that Grendel's mother has forgotten her own name.
* NoSell: Beowulf's attempt to strike Grendel's mother with his sword results in his sword hitting the floor of the cave when she vanishes, and she reappears behind him moments later.
* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Although the Zealanders speak in fake, but at least subtle, Danish accents -- Grendel even speaks [[HistoryOfEnglish Old English]] -- the Geats speak in the actors' natural accents, which means that the title character, since he's played by RayWinstone, is a Cockney ("I'm 'ere to kiw your mhonschtah."), and Wiglaf speaks in Brendon Gleeson's usual Irish accent.
* NothingIsScarier: Grendel's mother's [[ScaledUp true form]] is only glimpsed in reflections. ([[http://static3.comicvine.com/uploads/original/1/19151/376833-18633-grendel-s-mother.jpeg And if you are really curious]], a figure sculpt was released.)
** Grendel's mother can be seen in full rather briefly; when Beowulf wanders through her cave, she can be seen among the gold, hanging from the ceiling. However, her skin's color makes it rather easy to miss on initial viewing.
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: Grendel, his mother and the dragons are said to belong to a race of ancients inhabitants of the land called the Water Demons. It's never said if they are literal demons, although they seems to be able to cross with humans without trouble.
* OutrunTheFireball: Beowulf has to do this in the cave when the dragon breathes fire at him. Partially justified in that he turns and starts running when the dragon ''inhales''.
* PlayingGertrude: Creator/AngelinaJolie plays Grendel's mother, who is supposed to be centuries old. Grendel is played by Crispin Glover, who is older than she is. Although, you know, her character is ReallySevenHundredYearsOld. And a {{Shapeshifter}}.
* PragmaticVillainy: Grendel's mother scolds him for killing humans. Not because she cares about human lives - she really doesn't - but because humans are ''fucking dangerous''.
%%* PreAssKickingOneLiner:
* PrehensileHair: Grendel's mother (interpreted here as a [[HornyDevils sexy siren]] rather than the original's poorly described ogre-she-wolf-like thing) has a long braid that can move on its own. It's likely this was [[GlamourFailure the tail]] of whatever her real form was.
%%* {{Pride}}: An {{Aesop}}.
* ProtagonistTitle
* PunctuatedForEmphasis:
-->'''"They SAY!''' You have a '''MONSTAH''' here. '''They SAY!''' Your lands are '''CURSED.''' My name is '''[[SayMyName BEOWULF!]]''' I'm here to '''KILL YOUR MONSTAH!"'''
* PunctuatedPounding: Beowulf does this when he has Grendel's arm ensnared in a chain and pinned by the door.
-->(SMASH!)'''"YOUR BLOODLETTING DAYS!''' (SMASH!) '''ARE OVER''' (SMASH!) '''DEMON!''' (SMASH!)
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Wealtheow takes on a motherly role to Ursula. There's nothing to be gained by being unkind to her husband's concubine, especially if she's just some poor kid caught up in Beowulf's grand tragedy, but Wealtheow takes it an extra step, and it pays off later.
* RedRightHand: The movie gives Grendel's Mother the power to assume the pleasing form of Creator/AngelinaJolie, but she has a prehensile and whip-like ponytail, as well as humourously high-heeled bare feet.
* RiddleForTheAges: ''What'' was Grendel's Mother? The novelization takes this further, where even ''she'' doesn't know what she is: she was revered as a pagan goddess named Hertha or Nerthus, but she herself knows that she is not a deity, and only allowed her worshipping because humans wouldn't attempt to kill her that way. Hrothgar, however, associates her with TheFairFolk or dökkálfar.
* SarcasticClapping: Unferth does this because he's drunk and unimpressed by Beowulf's boasting and doesn't know any better. Beowulf finds it difficult to argue with a drunk.
* SayMyName: Beowulf does this. [[spoiler:Wealthow also screams Hrothgar's name when the latter jumps to his death.]]
%%* ScaledUp
* SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou: The movie poster.
* SceneryCensor:
** The titular character fights the monster Grendel completely nude, with his goods blocked from view by his leg, a sword, and a table, among other things. ''The shadow of his thigh'' blocks his fun bits at several points. If you slow down the film, and realize there are parts where his genitals would be visible but aren't, it seems like Beowulf is either hung like a Greek statue or a eunuch.
** Grendel's mother (voice, face and rendered body of Creator/AngelinaJolie) is "clothed" in weird gold water... ''stuff''. Though this could be an example of NonMammalMammaries.
%%* SerkisFolk: Everybody.
* ShapeshifterSwanSong: [[spoiler: After Beowulf rips the dragon's heart out, it appears beside him in a humanoid form.]]
* SkywardScream: '''''[-IN THE NAME OF ODIN!-]''''' Wiglaf does this when he enters the mead hall and sees the corpses in the rafters.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:Grendel's Mother dies in the poem, decapitated by a sword made by giants, but survives in the movie with a heavily implied case of TheBadGuyWins.]]
* TheStoic: Wealthow, most of the time, with a bit of StoicWoobie thrown in.
* SuperStrength: The movie certainly implied that the title character has beyond normal strength and fortitude, though it's still to a much lesser degree than the strength of 30 men in just the grip of his hands.
* TimeAbyss: Grendel's Mother; the novelization mentions that her kind--- whatever she is--- were spawned in the early days of Creation.
* TranslationConvention: The people here speak modern English, except for Grendel, who does speak Anglo-Saxon.
* UnratedEdition: Featuring Zemeckis's original NC-17 cut of the film he intended for IMAX theatres.
* UnreliableNarrator: Takes this tack in regards to Beowulf's exploits for which there are no witnesses. Most notably, he didn't exactly "kill" Grendel's Mother. And he did more than "slay sea monsters" during that storm. Though not all of the film's divergences from the standard story can be explained this way.
----> '''Unferth''': "[[SarcasmMode And how many did you kill? Twenty?]]"
----> '''Beowulf''': "Nine."
----> '''Wiglaf''': "[[DeadpanSnarker Last time it were three]]."
* TheVamp: Grendel's mother. While her attractiveness is a big factor on her ability to seduce men, she also uses promises of power and glory to entice them as opposed to only sexual pleasure.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Grendel comes over as this. He just has hypersensitive hearing and the feasts at the great hall therefore cause him pain. When he starts his rampages, he comes over as a crying child throwing a (very bloody) tantrum.
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%%* ChekhovsGun: Grendel's exposed eardrum, and the royal dragon horn.

* TheVamp: Grendel's mother. While her attractive is a big factor on her ability to seduce men, she also uses promises of power and glory to entice them as opposed to only sexual pleasure.

%%* {{Foil}}: Wealthow to Grendel's mother.

%%* GroinAttack: By sword. [[spoiler: It doesn't work]]

%%* SayMyName: Beowulf.

%%* SkywardScream: '''''[-IN THE NAME OF ODIN!-]'''''

%%* TheStoic: Wealthow, most of the time.

* NothingIsScarier: Grendel's mother's [[ScaledUp true form]] is only glimpsed in reflections. ([[http://www.spawn.com/features/beowulf/mother.html And if you are really curious]], a figure sculpt was released.)

* ExternalRetcon: The film presents the events recorded in the actual poem as a lie Beowulf told after "slaying" Grendel's mother.[[TheyChangedItNowItSucks Not everyone was amused.]]

* DealWithTheDevil: Hrothgar is implied to have entered into one when he fathered Grendel. Beowulf [[spoiler:does the same when he confronts her in her lair, giving her a son and the horn in exchange for peace and prosperity. This results in him fathering the dragon with her and her going back on the deal so the dragon can attack Herot]].

* HalfHumanHybrid: Grendel. He may be sterile (given his apparent lack of reproductive organs), and though it may just be because he's a monster he gives a good impression of being sickly. He's hideously deformed, has what appears to be a nasty skin condition, and is sometimes heard whimpering as if in pain (though that's probably just because loud noises irritate his [[AchillesHeel super-sensitive ear]]). The dragon at the end of the film is also a HalfHumanHybrid, [[spoiler:born of a mating between Beowulf and Grendel's mother]]. This is also very much unlike the original poem, where no human ancestry was suggested for Grendel except that he was a distant [[TheDescendantsOfCain descendant of Cain]].

* KnightInShiningArmor: It looks like Beowulf will be this towards Wealthow. He is this to everyone in the end.

* LukeYouAreMyFather: [[spoiler:The Dragon reveals to Beowulf that they are actually father and son.]]

%%* PunctuatedPounding

%%* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:Grendel's Mother]]

* DeathByDisfigurement: [[spoiler:Beowulf doesn't last long after being forced to cut off his left arm in a LifeOrLimbDecision to kill the dragon.]]

* DoppelgangerAttack: In the official videogame of the film, Grendel's mother attacks by summoning several translucid clones of herself called dísirs who attack sexually Beowulf.

* ExternalRetcon: [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks Not everyone was amused.]]

It's a MotionCapture ThreeDMovie adaptation of the epic ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}''. The premise is an ExternalRetcon: the story of Beowulf as we know grew in the telling (with a bit of help from Beowulf himself), and the "true" events are somewhat different -- and, in a couple of key sequences where there were no witnesses and the story relies on the hero's word alone, ''very'' different.

* DigitalHeadSwap: After a fashion. The whole thing was filmed using motion capture, and Ray Winstone claimed they put his head on his eighteen-year-old body. The same sort of thing was done with AngelinaJolie, who was pregnant at the time.

* NippleAndDimed: This film can show full frontal [[AngelinaJolie Jolie]] and still get a PG-13 rating if they cover her nipples with a bit of gold paint.

* PlayingGertrude: AngelinaJolie plays Grendel's mother, who is supposed to be centuries old. Grendel is played by Crispin Glover, who is older than she is. Although, you know, her character is ReallySevenHundredYearsOld. And a {{Shapeshifter}}.

* RedRightHand: The movie gives Grendel's Mother the power to assume the pleasing form of AngelinaJolie, but she has a prehensile and whip-like ponytail, as well as humourously high-heeled bare feet.

** Grendel's mother (voice, face and rendered body of AngelinaJolie) is "clothed" in weird gold water... ''stuff''. Though this could be an example of NonMammalMammaries.

%%* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler:Hrothgar]]