When I saw the trailers I was excited, it seemed like there would finally be a movie about the story of Jesus that wasn't completely pandering to a Christian fan base. The story of Christ through the eyes of a nonbeliever they said.
It wasn't that. The movie was well done, the directing was clever (if not a bit overt with all the moving into the light when talking about the Messiah), writing was pretty intriguing at least in the beginning and the acting by Joseph Fiennes and Tom Felton was outstanding. Surprisingly I felt that Tom Felton actually did a better job.
This movie starts out really interesting. There's no clear bias. It's just a man trying to discern truth from fiction in a time where it can be extremely hard to tell. The inner character struggle of Claviusis really well done. You can see it pains him to do the things he does, but feels he must in order to achieve peace.
Let's talk about the good parts first, the reason it gets a 6 instead of a 3. The first and perhaps most important thing is that it isn't hateful. So many Christian movies nowadays are quick to say anyone who doesn't believe in their Almighty is a sinner and a heathens. This movie stays true to Jesus' real message of love and not passing judgment which is something the Christian community could certainly use a little more of nowadays. Also on its side it is a slow burn thriller that keeps you guessing and intrigued for quite a while no matter which side you're on. It helps that it doesn't make things black and white. Many of the Romans who did kill Christ they're never painted as flat out bad, they are rationalizing their actions in a hard world to navigate.
Now on to the bad. It's super biased. I probably should have figured that going into it, but I got excited about maybe a more scientific or logical explanation people had at the time for what had happened. I knew in the back of my mind that this idea would be way to liberal for Hollywood, but a guy can dream. The writing starts out very strong, but after they've unveiled their "truth" to you it's as if they stop trying. It becomes just a celebration of Jesus rather than a story, which as far as film narrative is concerned is a huge no-no. The other issue I have with this film is its implications. The main character starts out methodically trying to find Jesus' body. He uses deduction and critical thinking to get him quite deep into the whole mystery. However, to turn around and say, "Hey! Stop! Don't ask questions! Just follow!" Is a detrimental message to send to people. Critical and analytical thinking are unimaginably important to achieve a better world for all of us. This is a big issue and theme running through all Christian media, the idea of letting Christ guide you and not to question or think for yourself, if it was pressed any harder on people it would legally be considered brainwashing.
All this said, in my honest opinion there were a lot of parts of this movie I enjoyed even if I was disappointed with the ending. I think that the director/writer should have tried to offer two explanations for what happened and let the viewer decide.
There was one point in the film where Clavius talks to Jesus one on one. I was really hoping at this point he'd say that some stuff was true and some wasn't, but regardless of what he chooses to believe happened, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that it's changing people for the better. But that didn't happen, so oh well.
It wasn't that. The movie was well done, the directing was clever (if not a bit overt with all the moving into the light when talking about the Messiah), writing was pretty intriguing at least in the beginning and the acting by Joseph Fiennes and Tom Felton was outstanding. Surprisingly I felt that Tom Felton actually did a better job.
This movie starts out really interesting. There's no clear bias. It's just a man trying to discern truth from fiction in a time where it can be extremely hard to tell. The inner character struggle of Claviusis really well done. You can see it pains him to do the things he does, but feels he must in order to achieve peace.
Let's talk about the good parts first, the reason it gets a 6 instead of a 3. The first and perhaps most important thing is that it isn't hateful. So many Christian movies nowadays are quick to say anyone who doesn't believe in their Almighty is a sinner and a heathens. This movie stays true to Jesus' real message of love and not passing judgment which is something the Christian community could certainly use a little more of nowadays. Also on its side it is a slow burn thriller that keeps you guessing and intrigued for quite a while no matter which side you're on. It helps that it doesn't make things black and white. Many of the Romans who did kill Christ they're never painted as flat out bad, they are rationalizing their actions in a hard world to navigate.
Now on to the bad. It's super biased. I probably should have figured that going into it, but I got excited about maybe a more scientific or logical explanation people had at the time for what had happened. I knew in the back of my mind that this idea would be way to liberal for Hollywood, but a guy can dream. The writing starts out very strong, but after they've unveiled their "truth" to you it's as if they stop trying. It becomes just a celebration of Jesus rather than a story, which as far as film narrative is concerned is a huge no-no. The other issue I have with this film is its implications. The main character starts out methodically trying to find Jesus' body. He uses deduction and critical thinking to get him quite deep into the whole mystery. However, to turn around and say, "Hey! Stop! Don't ask questions! Just follow!" Is a detrimental message to send to people. Critical and analytical thinking are unimaginably important to achieve a better world for all of us. This is a big issue and theme running through all Christian media, the idea of letting Christ guide you and not to question or think for yourself, if it was pressed any harder on people it would legally be considered brainwashing.
All this said, in my honest opinion there were a lot of parts of this movie I enjoyed even if I was disappointed with the ending. I think that the director/writer should have tried to offer two explanations for what happened and let the viewer decide.
There was one point in the film where Clavius talks to Jesus one on one. I was really hoping at this point he'd say that some stuff was true and some wasn't, but regardless of what he chooses to believe happened, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that it's changing people for the better. But that didn't happen, so oh well.