Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands

Comparison inevitably will be made to The Vikings since these shows walk on the same genre. However, Beowulf is the more casual of the two, using special effect and colorful scenery for broader demographic, a bit like the animation from years earlier only without CG Angelina Jolie. This direction if fine, not all recent works must be brooding and gritty, although Beowulf suffers from erratic shifts in plot as well as a few dubious displays of mythical creatures.

It is noticeable that the story pushes the titular Beowulf into many tribulations from the first steps. Unfortunately, this sets up too many subplots at the same time. Characters are being murdered, betrayed and chased even before any connection could be made to any of them, which presents a couple of strange seemingly rushed developments. It also tries to present some mystery and political struggle, but these aspects lack depth since they have to share the scene with many other angles like childhood memories or shoehorned romance.

Much of the resources evidently went to costume and setting. The attires these characters don are incredibly polished, certainly different yet appreciated fashion from typical medieval series. Its surroundings are fairly gorgeous as well, colorful both in human settlement and natural landscape. If any flaws should come from this eye-catching presentation, it's that the characters look a tad too modern for the era.

CG effect is a toss-up, some scenes look terribly crude while few others look very meticulous. At its best, the display of creature is presentable, having decent features and surprising detail on fur or beastly motion. On the other hand, when it falters, it further weakens the immersion since the human characters already react unconvincingly to inorganic monsters.

Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands is a light excursion for wider audience with more colorful presentation, although the cumbersome plot and sloppy CG might undermine that effort.

O.M.G. To say that this show was terrible would be an UNDERSTATEMENT. It was basically just Game of Thrones only they scrimped on the special effects and aired it before the watershed.

This idea sounded WONDERFUL but the end product was as best campy and at worst like a budget Game of Thrones. Even the THEME MUSIC is reminiscent of the Thrones theme. Whoever conceived this should be fired!

I could go on for hours about the faults of this show but, I'll end on this: Beowulf is a story that has been around for over a thousand years and is ripe for adaptation, but the next time you want to adapt it for TV, stay close to the source material. In short, GET. IT. RIGHT!

Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands is one of those series that would have been better off re scripted as a comedy. Regrettably, the writers decided to play this series as a serious fantasy drama. What a mistake.

Almost everything about Beowulf screams comedy. From what appears to be an old mine site, which has been rehashed as an early medieval village, of sorts, through to the costumes, that look like they were recycled from a heavy metal concert.

The storyline is chuckle worthy too. The main character Beowulf is on a testosterone overdose. He's incessantly simmering with cheesy, macho rage, wanting to fight everyone and everything in sight. The rest of the cast are shoe horned into equally awful, clinched, characterizations. Imagine, if Game of Thrones had been scripted by Monty Python and you are there.

All this silliness is inexplicable given this series has an excellent cast of actors, including a cameo or two by William Hurt! If money could be spent on a cast of this caliber, why not a story fitting their talents?

If you can adjust your sights and view Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands as a comedy of errors its actually not too dreadful. Try to take it seriously, however, and you may do yourself a mental mischief. Four out of ten from me.

This series isn't great. This series is very entertaining. I wish the series creators hadn't gone for the easy option of calling it Beowulf because that's what niggles people like me. For heavens sake think up a new norse name to call your hero and eliminate all the pedant complaints, this is just asking for bad reviews. My son, who has actually been made to read the saga of Beowulf at school tells me that Beowulf died. I don't know if that's actually true but if he believes it then many others of his age will also. My son is extremely scornful of the series without even bothering to watch any of it.My son is probably the target audience of this series. Nuff said.

I hoped for so much something as great as 'Vikings,' or 'The Last Kingdom,'but it felt like an episode of Doctor Who (i.e. more for kids and sets that look like sets). Then after a lot of irritated huffing and puffing on my part, I realised it has been made for a young audience who would get the most from this ambitious reworking and I expect these it would delight. I can't rate this properly as it wasn't made for me, but if I look back to my earlier tastes in life, am sure I'd have revelled in this show. The time slot should have given me a clue that it wasn't intended for me and all the gripes I had are answered by it being reworked for it's target audience which doesn't include me. From childhood to 24 I expect I'd have loved this version of Beowulf. I hope enough of it's target audience find it.