Noah starts with some promise. Never is this promise related to its adherence to the story's Biblical origin. In fact, the promise resides wholly in how much it initially resembles films based on myths (or fictional but mythic charcters). Clash of the Titans or Conan the Barbarian spring to mind readily.
The film never leaps feet first into this territory but it does seriously flirt with it.
And it is a shame it didn't do more than flirt.
The Noah story, and many other Bible stories could be readily rendered in this way. The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston has this sort of feel, is relatively close to the Biblical version and also stands the test of time. Unfortunately Noah doesn't keep on this path but veers off into familiar Hollywood territory. There is a "bad guy" that is very Conan-esque but that is also one dimensional and unnecessary.
There is even a Hollywood-style half-assed environmental message! The bad guys are into strip mining and Noah's family are vegetarians! One of Hollywood's worst neo-cliches is positioning EVERYTHING as some "environmentalist" versus "despoilers of creation" dichotomy. It is cheap. Keep in mind I am not a fan of strip mining and am all for vegetarianism. I am not for ham-fisted phoney baloney use of these topics that trivializes them.
Noah is ultimately a trivial film though.
It draws no profound conclusion from the events and even seems fearful of being "too religious" as if anyone hostile to the notion of religion is going to see a movie called "Noah." If you are going to make this movie, grow a pair and believe the story. You don't have to LITERALLY believe it but believe it like you'd "believe"in Harry Potter if you were shooting one of the J.K. Rowling books.
The film never leaps feet first into this territory but it does seriously flirt with it.
And it is a shame it didn't do more than flirt.
The Noah story, and many other Bible stories could be readily rendered in this way. The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston has this sort of feel, is relatively close to the Biblical version and also stands the test of time. Unfortunately Noah doesn't keep on this path but veers off into familiar Hollywood territory. There is a "bad guy" that is very Conan-esque but that is also one dimensional and unnecessary.
There is even a Hollywood-style half-assed environmental message! The bad guys are into strip mining and Noah's family are vegetarians! One of Hollywood's worst neo-cliches is positioning EVERYTHING as some "environmentalist" versus "despoilers of creation" dichotomy. It is cheap. Keep in mind I am not a fan of strip mining and am all for vegetarianism. I am not for ham-fisted phoney baloney use of these topics that trivializes them.
Noah is ultimately a trivial film though.
It draws no profound conclusion from the events and even seems fearful of being "too religious" as if anyone hostile to the notion of religion is going to see a movie called "Noah." If you are going to make this movie, grow a pair and believe the story. You don't have to LITERALLY believe it but believe it like you'd "believe"in Harry Potter if you were shooting one of the J.K. Rowling books.
The performances are not bad. Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly give it their all. Crowe in particularly does the best with what he has to work with. Anthony Hopkins even turns in a rare non-scenery chewing performance (a rarity in recent efforts from the great actor).
Another issue with the film is that, once on the Arc, it slows to a painful crawl and even turns Noah into something akin to a family annihilator. He runs around with a knife ready to murder babies for God. Don't recall THAT in Genesis (at least not in THIS Genesis story). Somehow this is even dull because you know it isn't going to happen. It does lead to great deal of screeching, however.
The film has its visual moments and isn't, in any way, terrible. It may even be better than people anticipate. It just is one of those films that holds promise before an audience and then repeatedly snatches it away.
Another issue with the film is that, once on the Arc, it slows to a painful crawl and even turns Noah into something akin to a family annihilator. He runs around with a knife ready to murder babies for God. Don't recall THAT in Genesis (at least not in THIS Genesis story). Somehow this is even dull because you know it isn't going to happen. It does lead to great deal of screeching, however.
The film has its visual moments and isn't, in any way, terrible. It may even be better than people anticipate. It just is one of those films that holds promise before an audience and then repeatedly snatches it away.
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