Review of God's Not Dead (2014) by Igiveup — 30 Mar 2014

I give this movie a mixed (solid 5) review because it generally does nothing for either group: Christian theists or non-believers/skeptics.

To the Christians: Congratulations, you have a movie which is unapologetic in its views. The problem is that anyone who is actually a fence sitter and does more than drool in a corner all day will move towards non-belief after a movie like this. The best way to change the minds of people involves something called "addressing their concerns". This movie does not do that. It basically presents non-believers as bitter, depressed people who have a priori an anti-God/Jesus/FSM agenda. So you may enjoy it to "rally the troops" but all it does is antagonize everyone else with a severe case of anti-intellectualism.

To atheists/skeptics/agnostics: Okay, so you know that the movie is basically like Blizzcon for WoW fans: an unabashed celebration of something they love without mercy to the competition. And you have yet another checkmark on the list of terrible Christian movies out there that preach to the choir. But this is nothing new: the only risk here is more indoctrination of Sally and Johnny (8 and 10 respectively) who come to school with more bravado than ever...literally more willing to fight because it feels more like a 3 on 1 curbstomping. It does nothing to advance the discussion: it reverses it and revives old-school "Why do you hate God so much???" proselytizing.