Over the
weekend I went on a two movie marathon date with myself. Due to the high costs of the theatre I rarely
go watch movies when they are released, but when I want to support a particular
film I enjoy placing my vote by visiting the cinema-high prices and all. On Friday, I found some time to watch two
Christian films that are currently in theatres: God is Not Dead and The
Son of God. One was based on the Gospel
of John and the other was an attempt at apologetics. While in my experience, Christian films can be
rather preachy, horribly acted and lean towards soft, predictable plots- both of
these films were better made than expected.
God is Not
Dead follows a
college kid’s trial in defending his Christian faith (or simply that God is not
dead) to his atheist professor in a university forum. The film’s contemporary Christian message
touched a nerve- though I might be horribly biased since I love apologetics – the film left me giddy and optimistic not because God needs defending, but because our
people need to be exposed to the realness of God. The film does a great job displaying great
scientific arguments for the existence of the universe created by an Intelligent Designer. I even liked the acting, specifically the
protagonist Shane Harper! Usually Christian films though good intentioned have
really weak actors, but Harper made his struggle genuine and believable. Yes, the film has its preachy, mushy moments,
but overall it’s a movie that leaves the audience hopeful and desiring to be
better missionaries. In the end, we are
challenged to join the movement and send a text to all our contacts: “God is
not dead” (thus if you received this from me over the weekend now you know why).
The Son of
God portrays
a happy Jesus – one who smiles and laughs a lot and that in itself is worth
watching. However, I found the film
lacking- am not sure if it was my annoyance with the use (or misuse) of scripture
or the fact the cast looked too western or whether the costumes (Mother Mary
looked like she just left the salon during the crucifixion) that repelled me. In addition, being a fan of Gibson’s Passion
of the Christ the flogging scenes in The Son of God weren’t as
powerful nor as gruesome - Jesus injuries looked fake.
This
coming Friday, Noah is making its debuts in theatres nationwide and we
have three more Christian films on their way this 2014: Heaven is for
Real, Exodus and Mary,
Mother of Christ. I think Hollywood
is finally recognizing that Christians are starved for quality, dignified films. In fact, I was reading that surprising all
odds God is Not Dead has done well at the box-office this past weekend - a big pat on the back to all those who went and supported the film (smile).
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