So how do you critique something that is the central tenet of belief for over 2 billion people in the world? Well let’s find out shall we…
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“Son of God” is the feature film version of the life of Jesus as shown in the History Channel’s miniseries “The Bible”. It uses many of the scenes from the original television presentation as well as some bonus material to round out the story. The film focuses on the life of Jesus as told by John from his birth to his death and resurrection, direct from the Biblical account. Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, who also did the TV mini series, head up the production. And of course the easiest thing to say is that if you enjoyed the mini series, then you will likely enjoy this. (cause it’s really pretty much the same thing)
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But let’s go a bit deeper shall we? Is it a good movie? Well, it’s very well produced, the acting is decent, and the story points are arrived at efficiently and cogently. and you really do start to get a sense for how the structure of the Jesus story wove itself around and through the avenues of the Jews, the Romans, and the early Christians. In fact, that’s probably my favorite thing about the film, that it seemed to handle the historical context of the story with honesty and even insight. And yet, I kept finding that anytime I was genuinely moved by the film it wasn’t because of anything the filmmakers did, it was because of the underlying story.
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You see, I believe this stuff. I’m a Jesus guy. I mean I don’t usually make a fuss about it in my reviews, but the biblical account of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection is kind of a big deal for me. which makes reviewing a movie like this an interesting task. I want to be able to separate my convictions from my critique, not that the message doesn’t factor into my (or even possibly your) enjoyment, but I want to make sure the many who don’t hold the same beliefs know what to expect as well. And at the end of the day, there really isn’t much of a movie here. It’s just all so very mediocre and paint by numbers. It’s basically the classic Sunday School version with big budget effects instead of flannelgraph. It’s like every Easter Cantata you’ve seen rolled into one. and for many who believe that might be enough, but I guess I would have liked to see some artistic chances taken. You get the sense that the producers were so focused on making things accurate that they forgot to make things excellent. I mean, feel free to stick to the literal biblical account, but do something interesting with the way you shoot it or the order of the story. What I’m saying is, If you believe you are telling the greatest story ever told, then make the effort to tell it greatly. Again this doesn’t mean it’s poorly done, only that there doesn’t seem to be any sense of artistic vision or creative risk taking that can take a movie to the next level.
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At the end of the day, if you dig Jesus this movie will likely mean a lot to you. Even if the mediocre presentation means they don’t necessarily screw it up, it also means there isn’t much interesting here beyond the interpreted text. I’m going with a B- for me, and maybe a full grade lower if the underlying story doesn’t resonate with you.
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Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more? Well the only other movie this week was the latest Liam Neeson on a rampage flick ”Non-Stop” so you can click to see my review of that and don’t forget to check out The Critic, The Geek, and the Girl every other Monday if you’d like a longer more conversational take on some of these films. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. So what is the “the best biblical movie ever”? My top two both feature great chariot races, but I’ll pick the one that pairs Steve Martin and Martin Short as comedy relief. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and please subscribe!