finally saw the Zemeckis movie and it wasn't that bad. was it cheesy? yes. Did it break wildly from the story at times? Yes. Do I care? Not particularly. In its own way, Zemeckis's film has a more enjoyable plot than the original story, also. While the original was really a series of events displaying the heroics of Beowulf and the lack of heroes in the (then)modern world, Zemeckis plots together a story with fewer loose ends. tying Beowulf to Hrothgar through Grendel's mother, stripping away a bit of the heroism of Beowulf, and giving Beowulf some faults, while not stealing him of his heroic attributes, makes for a more interesting character.

But I don't think there is a need to read that much into the film. It's an action flick that turns a fun look back on its nature.