"Noah" Movie Review

Poster courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Artistic, epic, slightly entertaining, and a bit laughable in places not designed to be funny.

"Noah" isn't a complete waste of time for those seeking a lesson on morals and humanity. Although, Darren Aronofsky's chance to reunite with his leading lady Jennifer Connelly from his acclaimed film "Requiem to a Dream" may have fallen short of any Oscar nods.

He's a director with vision unlike many others to take on this new rendition of a biblical tale. His creativity in story-telling is seen in this film as it was in "Pi" and "Black Swan."

Patrons going to watch "Noah" will notice that there are not three wives of Noah's sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth on the Ark. Be prepared to overlook this detail. The repopulation of Earth after the flood was not the goal of "The Creator" in this film. But instead the punishment for sin.

Movie-goers with an open mind to the message of the story and the dedication of a man and his family to carry it out can still appreciate the film. Self-identified Christian, Carlos Romero, of Corvallis is one of them.

"The message of the weight [Noah] carried was bold. He was able to share his belief and in the end he prevailed, which is great."

The visual effects in the film are impressive. Aronofsky did a great job using imagery and quick snapshots to reference time to tell the story in between scenes. He successfully fit many little details of a lengthy story (nine months in the movie) into 138 minutes.

There are some remarkable scenes of the animals flocking to the Ark. It was obvious that money was well spent to bring realism to dramatic settings. The beginning of the flood scene was a bit over the top but we can't forget where the film was made, in Hollywood.

Much of the movie lacked dialog, so a base-thumping cacophony of sound is used instead. The plethora of wordless music with a nail-biting, symphony feel is effective when it needs to be.

The $125 million spent on the film allowed for several acclaimed lead actors (Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Anthony Hopkins), but for the combined acting credentials there is little personality.

Some of the scenes seemed lackluster or, on the opposite end, over-acted with the theatrics of enthusiastic stage actors. Having a classical feel for a classic tale was possibly the directive from Aronofsky, but for the quality of talent in the film performances could have been better.

Emma Watson played Ila, Shem's love interest but also orphaned adopted sister, and delivered an unimpressive performance lacking depth and believability. Without being a scene-spoiler, look specifically for a crying bit late in the movie to demonstrate obvious fake tears on her behalf. Hence the laughable part.

For the length of the film it came up short in substance to keep audiences entertained. In this case it could have been shaved down to keep the action rolling rather than dwindling and leading to moments of boredom. At one point, literally, the man in the front row was snoring.

"The movie as a whole is a mixed bag. It's overlong and at times sluggish. The fights and battles, designed to give an epic fantasy feel to the movie, are grave miscalculations," said critic James Berardinelli with ReelViews.

Aronofsky's twist that gave it a modern filmmaker touch and personal interpretation are rock covered angels that fell from the sky. They are stuck Earth-bound and became protectors of man aka Noah. Sound familiar? It should, because they not only looked similar to but also mimicked the story of "Transformers."

Artistically it is a daring and adventurous interpretation.

There was a need to explain certain aspects of the story such as how all the wood is farmed, moved, trimmed and chopped. Or how a massive ark is erected by one man, four youth, and a fragile wife. Or how one family wards off mobs of "sinners" wanting a free-float to salvation. Enter the rock-angel-transformer things.

"I was confused by the 'transformers' made of rock," said movie-goer Morgen Springer of Philomath.

Indeed they are unexpected and a bit unoriginal. However, much of the justification for divine assistance is passed off to these hardened-helpers. The rock-angels also succeed in bringing the beloved Hollywood component of fiery explosions and victorious rescues to an otherwise anticlimactic movie.

"In his flawed, fascinating and altogether extraordinary 'Noah,' this ever-audacious filmmaker has given us a bold and singular vision of Old Testament times — a picture that dares to handle a sacred text not with the clunky messages and stiff pieties we’ve come to expect from so much so-called 'Christian cinema,' but rather with a thrilling sense of personal investment and artistic risk," said Justin Chang Chief Film Critic for Variety.

Worth the watch, just wait until it's on DVD.

-At a Glance-

What: "Noah" movie review
Released: April 2014
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Anthony Hopkins, Emma Watson, Nick Nolte
Rating: (2.5/5)