Review of Noah (2014) by Geekygrl : — 30 Oct 2015

Well, seeing as I am a non-believer I decided to watch this movie in the same way I would watch Lord of the Rings, or Thor, or any other adventure dreamed up in the fevered brain of very imaginative people; I suspended my disbelief. However it was difficult to not think about how the movie was received by folks who literally do believe the story of Noah and the Flood. I imagine they were pretty disappointed. I, however, was pleasantly surprised. It was not the feel good story of animal rescue that it is so often portrayed as today, and that is clearly the preferred depiction of the faithful. Instead, it had the feel of a post-apocalyptic film, desolation everywhere caused by the shortsightedness of man. In many was this film was pro-environmentalism. Noah, as portrayed by Russell Crowe, was a disturbed, possibly psychotic fanatic, willing to do anything "The Creator" told him to do, including killing his own grandchildren. And, given that this film depicts the most stupendous act of genocide in world history (if Bible literalists are to be believed), it would have been disappointing had the director tried to sugar coat the terror felt by the 30 million people who were massacred. He didn't. The agony of those left off the Ark was part of the depiction, as was the conflict those on the Ark felt leaving innocent people to their fate.

There were some flaws. While some oft he stylized animation used while Noah was recounting the story of Genesis was very cool, including what was clearly a depiction of evolution, the special effects throughout were uneven. Sometimes they were awe inspiring, especially the depiction of the flood itself, while at others they were really quite cheesy. The story got off to a slow, and somewhat confusing start, before settling in about 1/3 of the way through. The acting was uniformly great. Russell Crowe and Emma Watson were standouts.

So, bottom line, if you are a believer you have now been warned, and if you are not, prepare yourself for a very interesting and provocative depiction of this story. You will enjoy it!