Movie Review: Noah (2014)
Written by Anthony Sargon
Like most people, I had big doubts about Darren Aronofsky’s “Noah”. This is his first big-budget film, and for him to choose the tale of Noah’s ark seemed a bit strange to me. The trailers had done nothing to get me excited, and I’m not exactly what you’d call religious, so my expectations were pretty low, regardless of how fond I am of Aronofsky’s previous work. Well, it’s with a sense of relief and great surprise that I report that “Noah” is actually a pretty strong effort. It’s visually beautiful, and does enough to appeal to non-religous folks, and certainly does a lot to please religious groups, so I’m not sure what the big hoopla is all about. At the end of the day it’s the story about a dude who fills a boat with every species of animal on the planet and sails off into the sunset. In other words, I think it’s OKAY for someone to take a bit of creative liberty with a concept like that. It’s also nice to see Russell Crowe doing something good for a change; its been a while.
We’ve all heard the story before: God tells Noah (Russell Crowe) that he plans on flooding the earth and cleansing it of all life, except of what’s innocent. He doesn’t literally tell Noah, but rather shows him in a dream. After visiting his grandfather Methuselah (Anthony Hopkins) and getting high, Noah finally understands what he needs to do; build a giant ark to preserve all of Earth’s innocent lives. Things become significantly more complicated when Tubal-cain (Ray Winstone), descendent of Cain and king of a civilization that had become unworthy of God’s attention, threatens to do what is necessary to get on the ark once the storm comes.
This is Darren Aronofsky at the end of the day, so if you’re just expecting a straight-forward Noah adaptation, you’re watching the wrong movie. Noah is an extremely tortured and conflicted figure, and the weight of his responsibility is constantly on his shoulders. This is Old Testament stuff, so God wasn’t exactly the nicest guy around; he was jealous and could be quite cruel. That darkness is on full display here. There’s one scene that takes place after the flood hits, and you watch as bodies pile up on a rock in the middle of the flood, waves crashing against it, carrying more bodies with it, both dead and alive. Noah and his family hear their screams, but they can’t help them. The film also has some epic, supernatural battle sequences that look like they’ve been taken straight out of the ”The Lord of the Rings”. The entire thing looks like a million bucks, which should come as no surprise to any Aronofsky fan.
Aronofsky also doesn’t pull any punches. The film has a pretty pronounced pro-environment message, and there’s even a visually awesome allusion to the evolution of the cosmos and life in general. That may be why some religious extremists are getting upset, but again, anyone expecting a bible thumping movie is in for a big surprise. This is the story of a man tasked with a near impossible mission and the toll it takes on him and his family. He’s driven to the point of madness, and Russell Crowe does a great job at taking the audience there. Noah is a fully realized character, and I for one fully bought into him. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about his family, which is basically comprised of one-dimentional figures who are just there to fill the role of “Noah’s family”. Logan Lerman and Emma Watson are very solid as Ham and Ila respectively, but the rest of the family is pretty much just a waste of air.
There’s a lot to like about the film, but it’s also a pretty grim and joyless experience. Anthony Hopkins’ Methuselah is probably the film’s only source of levity, and he’s barely in the damn thing. Things can get pretty slow and a tad boring, and I found myself looking at the time pretty regularly near the end. I’m not saying that the story of Noah’s ark should be a comedy, but the constant dourness does take its toll eventually, and it’s not a necessarily fun experience.
The Verdict:
Far from the disaster I was expecting, “Noah” is a biblical movie done right. It’s grand and epic, but never forgets the human element of the story, which in the end is what matters most. All aboard Noah’s ark.
Numerical Score: 7.5/10
Read the Original post on A Geek's Blog
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://cdn.naharnet.com/stories/en/125141 |