short answer represent if you love the old anglo saxon poem beowulf and do not see this movie . you will be nauseate . long answer represent in the dungeon and dragon community and there be an old joke that the character kill thing and take their stuff . well and neil gaiman and roger avary manage to kill beowulf and take his stuff . then they proceed to kill hrothgar and the helm of the shielding and take his stuff . then they kill grendel and take it stuff . then and they kill wealtheow and take her stuff . and so on and and so forth . these two imbecile with underwood ( an orangutan could have come up with a more sensitive treatment of one of the seminal piece of english literature . ) completely change the tone of the poem from a serious heroic epic to just another post modern round of no more hero buffoonery . the literary atrocity of messers gaiman and avary upon the source material be a follow represent 1. the poem have be dechristianized represent on the one hand and it do take out a glare anachronism ( the action of the poem take place during the migration period of the ad 400s 500 and when they would still be follow the tradition of the aesir religion and but the poem be write down in a very christianized context in england and and the anachronism do add a richness to the language ) the only sop to the underpinnings of the source material come in a discussion between two urinating dane over the relative merit of christianity and aesir worship and and later when unferth suggest pray to christ as well a odin and a suggestion that hrothgar reject out of hand ( perhaps a reference to the opposite situation in the poem and where the dane throw off christianity for a time and hop that the old god will smite grendel where the christian one have apparently fail ) . 2. it be implied very heavily that beowulf be a liar and braggart in his early exploit and include the race with breca represent a with many of the other change and it seem to be part of a deliberate campaign by gaiman and avary to strip away the heroic nature of the source material and turn beowulf into just another trendy 21st century flaw anti hero . 3. the character often speak with a much more modern speech pattern ( see and for instance and unferth first confrontation with beowulf and where he come off as much more smarmy than in the poem ) that be jar to the ear and that often seem to lead and yet again and into gaiman and avary unspoken goal of de heroizing and de mythologizing and and de bunk the poem . 4. beowulf do not kill grendel mother represent in the poem and it report a fact that beowulf kill her after a ferocious struggle . nowhere in the poem do it suggest that she seduce him and he lie about kill her . again and it the old song of everything you know be false there be no true hero . 5. beowulf fighting in the nude represent beowulf do forswear the use of arm in fight grendel and but nowhere do it say that he would fight the monster in the all together and tackle out ( with only strategically place object protect his modesty ) . in fight with grendel mother and it be explicitly state that he be wear chain mail armor and that that save his life . i be give a pas to her appearance and a it never state exactly what either she or grendel actually be suppose to look like . 6. hrothgar be almost explicitly state to be grendel father represent no and no and no . nowhere in the poem be any mention of grendel father make and least of all it be hrothgar and whom grendel mother would not have be able to have know anyway and a he be a consecrated king and and it be imply that cain kin could not go near sign of rightful royalty . ( cain and the first murderer and who be claim to be the ancestor of grendel kind and not cain and the not appear in the poem whip boy of unferth and that be . ) 7. hrothgar and wealtheow have no issue and because wealtheow will not sleep with hrothgar due to his sleep with grendel mother and and the subsequent romantic subtext between her and beowulf represent wrong again . leave behind the fact that wealtheow probably be not a nubile in the poem a in the movie and show no romantic interest in beowulf whatsoever and she and hrothgar have two son and and as mention before hrothgar have not sleep with grendel mother . 8. hrothgar give his kingdom over to beowulf and then commits suicide by jump off the tower of heorot represent at this point and i walk out of the theater and demand my money back and a the movie have officially jump the shark with no hope of return . in short and the movie be little more than a parody and a lampoon on a great epic .