Review of Noah (2014) by Scrawnypunk — 01 Apr 2014

I felt this movie was astounding – flawed, but astounding. It is what it wants to be and it does not bow to convention. It is both a block buster and a psychological character study. It is both Biblical and inventive. It is both digital and auteur. It is also, obviously, very thought-provoking…which is more than can be said for most big movies these days.

What this movie is – a VERY loose interpretation of the Biblical flood story, with tiny packets of the Book of Enoch and the Qu’ran to flesh out the back story. As with most Aronofsky films, it is primarily a psychological study. What exactly does faith mean when it requires a man to let ALL OF HUMANITY DIE? If that man is sane, how does he react? Cope? Adjust to change? What are the depths of his despair if he feels that his familial compassion equate to failing his God? These are the questions posed in Noah, and it does a fairly (but not exceedingly) good job working through them.

What this movie is not – a Bible study or lesson in Theology. However, biblical accuracy is not one of my criteria for movie critiques. It would be akin to stating “Dante’s Inferno is HORRIBLE…there is no evidence for nine circles whatsoever in any religious text!” Obviously, such a criticism would miss the point. My suggestion is that if you are looking for Biblical consistency you should probably go see Son of God instead.

There are some slight flaws (e.g. the strength with which Mickey Rourke carries The Wrestler is in a different league than Russel Crowe’s performance; diversions into implied veganism and earth-first philosophy detract from the larger character study, etc.) but the good outweighs the bad. I choose to believe this movie is a step in the evolution of movies as both big and thought-provoking, and I quite liked it.