Beowulf is a 2007 American animated fantasy action film produced and directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary, based on the Old English epic poem Beowulf, and featuring the voices of Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright, Brendan Gleeson, John Malkovich, Crispin Glover, Alison Lohman, and Angelina Jolie.

He recounts embellished stories of a fight, claiming he left Hrunting impaled in the body of Grendel's mother and lost the golden drinking horn in the battle.

Grendel's mother appears as a gold light in the surf and drags Hrothgar's corpse into the sea as the crowd kneels to the newly crowned King Beowulf, fulfilling their bargain.

Wiglaf finds the golden horn in the sand and sees Grendel's mother give Beowulf a final kiss as his burning ship sinks into the sea.

[3] Zemeckis drew inspiration for the visual-effects of Beowulf from experience with The Polar Express, which uses motion-capture technology to create three-dimensional CGI images of characters.

Animation supervisor Kenn MacDonald explained that Zemeckis used motion capture because "Even though it feels like live-action, there were a lot of shots where Bob cut loose.

[13] Zemeckis insisted that the character Beowulf resemble depictions of Jesus, believing that a correlation could be made between Christ's face and a universally accepted appeal.

[21] Avary said their goal was "to remain truer to the letter of the epic but to read between the lines and find greater truths that had been explored before",[22] while Gaiman commented, "the glory of Beowulf is that you are allowed to retell it" due to the presence of many other adaptations that offered their own take on it.

[27] In particular, the portrayal of Grendel and his kin appeals to multiple forms of sexual unease, among them the castration anxiety, the monstrous feminine and the challenging of traditional gender roles.

[17][26][27] According to Nickolas Haydock, the film reflects the "American obsession with sex as the root of all evils", to the extent to compare Beowulf's and Hrothgar's portrayals to Bill Clinton and the history of sexual misconduct that caused his political decline.

[26] After copulating with Grendel's mother, both Hrothgar and Beowulf find themselves unable to maintain fulfilling sexual relationships with Wealtheow or other women, becoming aged, bitter and even feminized in their impotency.

[17][26][27] Later Beowulf claims to have vanquished the mother, having supposedly rendered her dead with his sword in her cave, but the falsity of this only translates as a wishful, pretended triumph of the male over the female.

[17][20][27] However, authors have noted that he ultimately breaks the Oedipian triangle caused by his destructive son, as he manages to kill the dragon and seemingly thwart the cycle at the cost of his life.

[17][28] The film still underlines the irresistibility of female power, as even Wiglaf, who had been shown to be abstinent from lust in contrast to his partners, is hinted to be similarly seduced by Grendel's mother.

[20][29] In the film, the character laments the old, heroic pagan religion is being replaced by Christianity, "leaving humankind with nothing but weeping martyrs, fear, and shame".

[22] In the poem Beowulf slays Grendel's mother and defeats her challenge on gender roles, but her film version is victorious over him, also using seduction instead of strength, which updates the ways in which the story views female power.

[28][29] The gold covering her skin and the Faustian bargain she offers embody similar modern views on the relationship between wealth and sex,[17][27] particularly societal compulsions to enjoy them at the fullest, "not prohibited but demanded, which becomes a postmodern variation of Freud's death wish".

[26] However, the main difference from the poem is portraying Beowulf as a flawed hero destroyed by his own negative qualities,[17][22] like lust for power and unchecked male desire,[20] which raises questions about the morality underlying heroism.

[27] Despite the superficial characterization of the Water Demons as Others,[17] the film blurs the line between heroes and monsters, as Grendel can talk, and the dragon's human form resembles Beowulf himself, representing his repressed wishes.

[35] In the United States, the Motion Picture Association of America gave the film a PG-13 rating for "intense sequences of violence including disturbing images, some sexual material and nudity".

[41] Several cast members, including director Robert Zemeckis, gave interviews for the film podcast "Scene Unseen" in August 2007.

The website's consensus reads, "Featuring groundbreaking animation, stunning visuals, and a talented cast, Beowulf has in spades what more faithful book adaptations forget to bring: pure cinematic entertainment.

[48] Time magazine critic Richard Corliss described the film as one with "power and depth" and suggested that the "effects scenes look realer, more integrated into the visual fabric, because they meet the traced-over live-action elements halfway.

[50] Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers praised the motion capture used in the film and argued that "The eighth-century Beowulf, goosed into twenty-first century life by a screenplay from sci-fi guru Neil Gaiman and Pulp Fiction's Roger Avary, will have you jumping out of your skin and begging for more...

Beowulf is a huge step forward [...] Although his Cockney accent initially seems incongruous [...] Winstone's turn ultimately reveals a burgeoning humanity and poignant humility."

[52] Justin Chang of Variety thought that the screenwriters "have taken some intriguing liberties with the heroic narrative [... the] result is, at least, a much livelier piece of storytelling than the charmless Polar Express".

He also stated that "Zemeckis prioritizes spectacle over human engagement, in his reliance on a medium that allows for enormous range and fluidity in its visual effects yet reduces his characters to 3-D automatons.

"[53] Kenneth Turan of NPR criticized the film, writing: "It's been 50 years since Hollywood first started flirting with 3-D movies, and the special glasses required for viewing have gotten a whole lot more substantial.

Southern Methodist University's Director of Medieval Studies Bonnie Wheeler is "convinced that the new Robert Zemeckis movie treatment sacrifices the power of the original for a plot line that propels Beowulf into seduction by Angelina Jolie—the mother of the monster he has just slain.

Philosophy professor Stephen T. Asma argued that "Zemeckis's more tender-minded film version suggests that the people who cast out Grendel are the real monsters.