Writing in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Stephen T. Asma applauds Beowulf and "other recent films that champion pre-Christian masculine virtues," such as 300 and the HBO series Rome, for their "unapologetic celebrations of macho competence" and the "distinct sympathy for honor culture. . . brute strength, tribal loyalty, and stoic courage actually get things done." But Asma also detects a compromise with our softer modern sensibilities in the movie's characterization of the hero Beowulf and the monster Grendel and his mother. "In the original Beowulf, the monsters are outcasts because they're bad (just as Cain, their progenitor, was outcast because he killed his brother), but in the new liberal Beowulf the monsters are bad because they're outcasts. And while the monsters are being humanized, the hero is being dehumanized. . . By transforming Grendel's mother into a femme-fatale seductress, they've found a way simultaneously to further demonstrate Beowulf's flaws, give the female lead more dimensionality (albeit uncharitably), and connect the denouement to the earlier story. But more interesting than these plot changes is the character adjustment. In the original, Beowulf is a hero. In the new film, he's basically a jerk, whose most sympathetic moment is when he finally realizes that he's a jerk. It's hard to imagine a more complete reversal of values from the original Beowulf story. . . Many academics will probably appreciate the new emasculated Beowulf (thinking it more psychologically sophisticated and more appropriately critical of machismo), but I'm not convinced this new version transcends and nullifies the heroic original." Also, he says that you should definitely see it in 3D. Whooo!! — Phil Nugent
