Review of Risen (2016) by Erc1 — 26 Feb 2016

I have seen that most of the negative reviews of this movie come from people who are more upset about the message than any particular scene or actors' abilities. Truth be told, this was a well acted movie that really made me think of what it would have been like to be one of the eleven disciples. The movie's purpose was not to offer proof of the resurrection. This is where I think many who don't believe in the resurrection err, they were looking for the movie to convince them. That is not what the movie sets out to do, instead it is meant to detail the commotion that such events as Jesus's resurrection and the 40 days he spent on earth afterward would have made in the region. It does that masterfully without going over the top.

From a movie perspective, the acting was good all around. I like the character who played Barnabas, he was just the kind of crazy you would have expected some of the disciples to be. Remember, all but one of these men died a martyr's death for preaching the Gospel of Christ. There is no record of even one recantation from any of these men, that is a miracle in itself. If you think it was a lie, try to convince eleven men under penalty of death, to stick to any story, true or otherwise. These men refused to recant knowing the consequences, they even refused to stop preaching it, amazing. Not to spoil anything, the way Barnabas acts when he appears before Clavius I thought was really well done. Of course Clavius was also very well done and a very believable character. Jesus looked like he was from the Middle East for the first time ever in a big movie production, and while not talking a lot, was convincing in the role. Peter's actor reminded me a lot of Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof. All around, it was just good acting.

My biggest disappointment with the movie was that some very cool details were left out. I know that movies have to cut things to keep it moving along and that the movie is never as good as the book though :).