Review of Ben-Hur (2016) by Alexander M — 18 Aug 2016

I very much enjoyed this movie. Contrary to some more avant garde pans if the movie, I was glad that the movie wasn't distracted by some of the unnecessary underlying themes seen in earlier remakes, and instead focused on the core events of the story itself.

Set primarily in ancient Jerusalem, it till seriously the geo-political elements of that time, the struggles between the opposing Jewish sects (Essenes, Hellenistic, Zealots) at that time that were causing splinters in the Jewish community, and intertwined those with the challenges of living in an occupied land.

These were mixed with very engaging and realistic stories of life, love, and faith that form the subtext or context of life's narrative. These were placed within the backstory of Christ, both occasional vignettes of him appearing in the movie during his final years as a Jewish carpenter, leading up to his earthly ministry, and ultimately his crucifixion.

All the while, Ben Hur, the main character, lived his life as a Jew, with the amazing things that happened in his life as a result of his Jewish faith and trying to wrestle with his Jewish identity, his relationships, and his convictions.

Utimately, these led to an unexpected story of the dissatisfaction of revenge, pain, and ultimate redemption.

Ben-Hur is a timeless story of redemption and salvation and hope. It is one that is well-done, with the only critical observation being the sometimes-tight camera shots occasionally made the viewer want to be reminded of the great scale and scope of the historical canvas of these events, the Roman Empire. There were some of those that add greatly to the story itself, particularly the scenes of the Roman circus and of the Ionic warship battles (wow). There was ample attention given to those, but more would have added even more to an already very good film. 4.5 stars. Meaningful and enjoyable.