Review of Son of God (2014) by Harry W — 17 Jan 2015

Although the TV miniseries The Bible had underwhelmed me, I figured it was worth seeing a feature length project based on the life of Jesus Christ.

2014 was a big year for religious films, though there has not yet been a single one I have liked. The films have ranged from being big budget blockbuster films like Noah to Golden Raspberry award nominated low budget religious propaganda crap like Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas. Son of God meets them in the middle with a reasonably low budget of $22 million which is enough to give the film a good sense of style. It works because Son of God is very good looking film with scenery and production design which easily establishes the setting of the story, and the cinematography captures it all very nicely. The visual effects may not be on par, but aside from that everything else feels genuine. But the style of the film fails to overshadow its narrative flaws.

Son of God feels like a biblical checklist. In an attempt to tell the full life story of Jesus Christ, Son of God ends up following a dramatised plot structure. It jumps from one point in Jesus Christ's life to another when he is delivering excerpts from the Bible in overdramatised monologues. There is no transition between these scenes because they just cut too quickly from one scene to another. There is no real consistency in Son of God because of the structure in which the story unfolds with the entire film delivering little more than repetitive optimistic messages about Jesus Christ's teaching. It feels less like a story and more like a stylish religious lecture in the form of cliff notes, failing to delve into the depth of the source material in terms of its spiritual aspects or genuine meaning. The visual experience of these scenes are not enough to overshadow the hollow and poorly paced nature of these scenes. The first half of Son of God does not deal justice to the legacy that the story of Jesus Christ has, and the lack of established context may leave viewers unfamiliar with the bible itself to be confused.

The story picks up in the second half because the pacing and the plot structure improves. Instead of cutting between different periods of time in a vignette structure, Son of God becomes focused on its one key plot point which is emphasising the nature of Jesus Christ's death. This is the best scene in the film because the focus picks up, the drama enhances and the film is able to grasp a general sense of consistency. These scenes present more depth than the first act of the film and there is actually a sense of genuine dramatic spirit in them. It presents the first time that the film slows down and remembers the relevance of the bible, its meanings and its messages. As an Atheist, even I felt a certain kind of spirit from the film not so much because of its biblical elements but because of the humanity in the situation as Jesus faces betrayal but still maintains his faith. It is honourable, so by the end of Son of God the story of Jesus Christ manages to deal a certain level of justice to him. There is just one problem with the second half of the film: it is something I have seen before. The second act of Son of God is the best part of the feature, but it is all too famliliar to Mel Gibson's story of Jesus Christ's crucifiction, the 2004 film The Passion of the Christ. The Passion of the Christ is my favourite religious story, and Son of God mimicked it with less violence but failed to reach the standards that or bring too much to it that I hadn't already seen. I like what was done with it all, but it just wasn't that much new to me. In comparison to the first half of the film and many of the lacklustre episodes of the miniseries The Bible, the second act of Son of God is one of the best scenes to be created by the production and so it is not hard to see how the faithful would find their spirits raised by the film. And admittedly, those who found The Passion of the Christ to be too violent to bear may enjoy the more restrained nature of Son of God's depiction of Jesus' death. Still, this is only half of the film and not enough to make the feature good as a whole.

The casting of Diogo Morgado as Jesus Christ is a great move. While other films and Christian Cartoons have led audiences to believe that Jesus was a Caucasian man, the fact is that the Bible dictates that evidently he is middle eastern. Being Portuguese, Diogo Morgado has a darker tone of skin which is befitting for the profile. In the same year of the release of Exodus: Gods and Kings, Son of God uses a more genuine actor to play the role of its biblical figure instead of just blackfacing a caucasian actor. Due to that, the story feels more genuine. Considering that practically all of the cast match their roles based on ethnicity, Son of God comes off as feeling rather legitimate. And while the script may not be perfect, the cast of Son of God deliver a fair effort, led by the strong performance of Diogo Morgado in the leading role. To be frank, he looks the part perfectly. For the first time I have seen a non-caucasian actor take on the role of Jesus Christ, Diogo Mogado sets the bar at a fair level. From the moment he enters the screen dressed in Jesus' robes with his long hair flowing in the wind, it is clear who he is. He is the titular Son of God, and with the film putting so much emphasis on Jesus Christ's teachings, he manages to deliver all the material straight out of the bible with a passion for what it all means. The high profile role of Jesus Christ is one he is able to step up to even if the film around him does not do a perfect job delivering on his story, and he engages in the role with a spiritual sense within his physicality and the way he delivers his words. The optimistic treatment of the character may result in him having to play the part with a bit much optimism in the first half, but in the second half of Son of God Diogo Mordado is able to grasp a sense of humane sadness whil never losing sight of his general faith. His dedication to the role is impressive and he breathes some real life into the part which ensures that the second act of Son of God is able to succeed on a human level. Diogo Morgado is a fine asset to Son of God.

So Son of God has a poorly structured first half and a second half which is a bit too familiar, but even though the film is not a great one, its second act has a certain sense of spirit to it and Diogo Morgado makes a fine fit for the role of Jesus Christ.