As a pastor & theologian, I saw Noah yesterday and wanted to share some brief thoughts, and what I felt were the messages being promoted in the film. WHAT I LIKED: presented a clear message that human sin (disobedience, wickedness, greed, unrighteousness, immorality, violence, etc.) leads to death and is the reason the world is broken--things are not as they should be; God (the Creator) created out of love and desires harmony with creation; God cares about creation and will not abandon it; man was created in Gods image--man is caretaker, not earth-raper; Gods love and mercy will in time (with human participation) restore creation; it is difficult to follow the Creators desires for creation and be his voice to the world; its possible for the righteous (i.e. Noah) to misunderstand God as we seek to carry out his will and do justice. WHAT I DIDNT LIKE: the film went over the top (compared to the Genesis account) with caring for animal life--human life is NOT as sacred--animals alone are pure [a scene in the film shows Noah helping a wounded animal before killing the three hunters without hesitation]; depiction of Adam & Eve as glowing translucent beings; Tubal-Cain (leader of tribe from line of Cain) keeps saying hes made in the image of Creator, even calling on him, but no response; initial confusion with snake skin (from Garden of Eden) being used for anointing/blessing; Nephilim (Gen 6) are replaced with Watchers from 1 Enoch--portrayed as angels hidden in rock-like, transformer-type bodies meant to help protect Noah and build the ark; doesnt show Noah build an altar to God at the end, or gives thanks for their salvation. Other critical comments: I liked the Iceland landscape, but it definitely wasnt the ancient near east. Noahs family was too white\European. Some of the costumes reminded me of medieval Europe or Lord of the Rings. I wasnt expecting that. Noahs dark psychopathic tirade was a little much toward the end of the movie, reminding me of Jack Nicholson in Kubricks film, the Shining. Yikes! But I suppose the Watchers were the most bizarre element of the film, for me. Yet I wasnt all that surprised since its to be expected in our era of CGI filmmaking. My FAVORITE scene was when Noah closed the doors to the ark, sat down with his family, and began to tell the creation account. He quotes a good bit of Gen 1 while at the same time the audience sees images of a very scientific account of creation, portraying theistic evolution. However, the creation of man was something uniquely different and set apart from the rest of evolution. Powerful scene! Overall, I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. Its worth seeing at least once. I can appreciate the creative story telling, even though it strayed from the Genesis account. Oh, and I must say that Im very glad that old Methuselah found some berries before being blown away by a global tsunami. That made me feel better. :-)
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 15:23:08 +0000
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