"Noah" Review

Here's a message for big-time Hollywood producers: if you are setting out to make a movie based on the Bible or any other religious text, have someone direct it who actually understands the context.

Writer/director Darren Aronofsky took a lot of artistic liberties with the Biblical epic "Noah." In reality, when adapting a movie from the Bible it is necessary to change quite a bit. Anyone who has read it knows that there is not a lot of description about the way the world was from the Fall of Adam and Eve until Noah. In fact, most of the verses after Cain kills Abel do nothing more than name  descendants until Noah.

When the Bible gets to Noah, the only description of the world is that it is violent and full of corruption. All that is known about Noah is he is a righteous man, who was commanded by God to build a very big boat with two of every animal to prepare for forty days of constant rain that is to flood the whole earth. He and his family are in there for a little while until they find dry land. They then live their lives and have kids, continuing the race of man.

Other than that, we as readers are given nothing about who the characters are or what their situation is. Noah is described as a righteous man, but what are his flaws? The world is described as violent, but what is the extent of it? Was violence the only thing the people of that culture valued? Or was it still looked down upon but ever-present like it is in America today? Furthermore, what exactly is the relationship between Noah's family and the rest of the world?

These are some questions that should be addressed when recreating the story, and that is why artistic liberties need to be taken. This movie does it, but Aronofsky does not pay attention to the basic beliefs behind the Bible.

For example, in the movie Noah (Russell Crowe) and his family are vegetarians. They think of themselves equal to the animals. Rather than building the ark to continue the human race, they see it as a way to protect the creatures, who they claim are the only innocent beings after the Fall of Adam. 

In my belief — and I'd assume in the beliefs of a majority of religious people —
God gave humans dominion over animals. This means humans are greater and more important than them. Though we should not be excessive about it, animals are meant to be eaten. 

I am not being preachy about my own beliefs. Anyone who disagrees and decides to live the vegetarian lifestyle is free to do so. I would also assume a lot of people who believe in the Bible do not eat meat, and that is fine. What I am saying is a majority of people who believe this story happened probably eat meat, and trying to say Noah was a vegetarian is a little bit on the preachy side.

The family's vegetarianism leads to a plot point I had a very hard time with. There are certain things Noah does that has to do with these beliefs. A lot of the film's conflict arises from it, and he becomes a downright miserable character to watch.

Part of my problem with this is how inconsistent it is with how the Bible describes Noah. It says he actually walked with God. In this movie, while God communicates with him, he does not seem to understand basic things about His nature that someone who walked with God would.

Even before this conflict arises, the characters are not fleshed out as much as I would have liked. Russell Crowe does a good job with what he has. However, the writing and direction makes him unlikeable. He is unrealistically serious all the time. Everything is doom and gloom with him. This is partly because of the fact that all people in the world — aside from his family — are murderous, bloodthirsty heathens. But there should at least be some moments in which he is happy. There should be some reason to root for him as the protagonist and title character, and there is none.

The film is not completely joyless. The visuals are very impressive. There is a certain mythology Aronofsky is creative with. I do not know this for sure, but I think it comes from a passage in that Bible that says there were giants during Noah's time. In Aronofsky's world, these giants are known as "watchers." They are large moving rocks with lights in their eyes and chests. What is impressive about them is they seem to be animated using stop-motion. It gives an interesting aesthetic to the film. They also have an interesting origin story. It definitely takes liberties that stray from the Bible, but it is entertaining.

The scene in which the ark actually gets into the water is also very cool looking. It shows the sheer amount of epic Aronofsky was going for. As they are floating by, there is a shot of a mountain that has not been covered by the flood. Something happens there, which I will not spoil. I will say it is an artistic shot that adds a very interesting perspective to the classic Bible story.

There are other interesting visuals that make the film worth seeing. One of them is a time lapse accompanied by a story Noah tells near the middle of the film about the history of the world. 

I give this movie 3 out of 5 stars. It is a very good looking film, and the story is involving at parts. However, the characters who are not unlikeable are not fleshed out, and it takes liberties that do not work for the target audience.

Content: Rated PG-13. There is action violence throughout the film involving stabbings and heads being bashed in a silhouette. At least one scene shows someone's head being bashed on-screen with some blood splatter. There is some blood throughout the film, but splatters are not as explicitly shown as they would be in an R-rated movie. There are also some disturbing images. A couple of parts deal with sexuality, but it does not show anything. It is not something I would recommend seeing with young children.