Review of The Passion of the Christ (2004) by Mattc. — 01 Sep 2004

It's virtually impossible to get a balanced and objective view about this film. Cynical yes, but I've no doubt that many people will have decided what they think about this film before actually watching it.

Caviezel is excellent as Jesus and although theres very little dialogue he's an actor who can say a great deal without speech. Elsewhere, the rest of the casting/acting is rather sterile, Pilate manages to hold his ground but otherwise it's all rather uninspired.

Maybe it's a fear of taking the limelight from the charachter of Jesus, maybe it's just poor direction. Speaking of which, Gibson is a rather inconsistant director; some scenes are excellent whilst others are horribly amateurish.

Also, no matter how sincere his intentions may be, this film has a thick layer of Hollywood not far under the surface and as a result whatever sincerity intended is degraded somehow. Watching it on the big screen I just couldn't get involved and found myself whistling 'Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life' in my head at the end.

I also found myself being irritated by the assertion that Jesus had seemingly invented high tables with chairs. Watching the film on my television set I found that I was much more able to become absorbed.

This is a film that you need to watch alone for full intensity and when the connection is there it is a rewarding film, this is a good, if not a little inconsistant, take on the greatest story ever told.

It's also worth noting that accusations of this films Anti-Semitism are unfounded, some Jewish priests do try and stick up for Jesus during his 'trial', this is something that is conveniently ignored by some reviewers.

At the end of the day, Jesus was put to death by his own people and had this not have occured then Christianity wouldn't have existed as we know it now. Therefore, in regards to this, any intelligent person would know not to judge a religion as ancient and established as Judaism.