Review of Noah (2014) by Russell G — 23 Feb 2016

There may be too much complaining from people in terms of this interpretation secularizing a Biblical story. The Bible story, after all, is vague and does not go into detail. It is normal to have questions about how one man (or a few men) could construct such an enormous ship and how they collected the animals.

This is one person's creative interpretation of how this story could have happened. It clearly goes well beyond what is in the scripture in terms of characters and giant stone guardians, but the fact is we really do not know the details.

To get upset about it is a waste of time. The characters refer to God as the creator and the messages from God come from dreams that are open to interaction. None of this upsets me. Personally, I do not ask for a limited literal approach.

I like showing human flaws in Noah, but it is too dark for my taste. At 138 minutes, this movie overstays its welcome. The cast is fine, but the writing cannot support a movie this long. The issue I have with this disappointing movie is the copious amounts of useless action and drama.

There is not enough awe in the presentation of the miracles. Instead, it attempts to spice things up with needless aggressive confrontations and fight scenes. The payoff is not there, as the movie drags, particularly in the last act.

It is a simple story, and the challenge of the movie should be to make an inspiring visual and musical experience to make one feel the power of the story. There is not much of an experience here.