Originally posted by: Darth Chaltab
I don't see why people are so up in arms about this. The source material isn't that great or thought provoking to begin with. Beowulf himself is an incredible Gary Stu and constantly veers off into random moralizing while not living by the morals himself.

I am not too familar with the term Gary Stu, but from the provided link it seems like it indicates a cliched character. Which is an odd term to use, since Beowulf predates most of the characters that would make him a cliche. And as far as the story not being that great or thought provoking, I don't think you can really hold such an old work up to modern standards. It would be like critizing Homer's works because they didn't live up to todays standards, or saying that Odysseus is a cliched character. For such a not so great story that is not thought provoking it sure has influenced modern story a good deal. I am in no way "up in arms" about the whole thing, but there is no possible way of denying the historical importance of Beowulf and the impact it has had on stories. I just think it is ashame that such an important work gets such an adaption. I would have liked to have seen something more along the lines of Braveheart and Lord of the Rings, rather than 300. Don't get me wrong, I liked 300 and I thought it was a fantastic adaption of the graphic novel, and its style worked for what it was. But Beowulf? I just felt it deserved better than CG and Angelina as Gendel's mum.