Originally I wanted to see this movie just because it was causing such an uproar. Some churches were condemning it, while other churches were promoting it. Considering the ignorance that often comes with being a church, I figured that if the churches condemning this were right, then this was probably going to be something I had to see. But either way, this has definitely stirred enough controversy that Mel Gibson should more than make back the money that he put into the production of this film.
Being that this is the story of Jesus, the last few days of his life, I knew it would be something that either hit me really hard and I'd think that this was one of the greatest movies ever made, or it'd hit me less hard and I'd just be disgusted. This movie truly did live up to the cliche of being "hit or miss", and it missed me almost completely.
Now don't misunderstand me, for the casual church-going "I am religous and better than you" person, this movie is perfect. I mean, I don't know how churches could disapprove of a film that looked almost as if it was made by them. But considering myself to be more of an intelligent person, this movie was just way under my head.
First off, this looked like an overdone production of a PBS movie. Seriously, it had that feel throughout it where I thought at any moment someone would come in, asking us for money to keep the station alive. Secondly, there were times where it was overly theatric, and that was just dumb. And lastly, there were subtitles, so at times when characters would speak in Arabic, I would read the subtitle really quickly, then listen to what they say and I'd hear some sort of English jibberish. I don't know the first thing about Arabic as a language, but to me, it sounded like these people were saying every day words that made no sense strung together or that they were just speaking fluent nonsense. That was sort of distracting. Oh yeah, and a lot of these actors looked like people that they weren't. So I spent part of the movie convincing myself that guy wasn't Russell Crowe and that lady wasn't Linda Fiorentino.
Aside from that, let's look at this story on a whole. If you have no background of the Bible whatsoever, and no background of the story of the crucifixtion of Jesus, then this story is going to be pretty much lost on you. Not only does this movie not work because it breaks the cardinal rule of "the main character never dies", but they just don't build up Jesus enough to make me actually care about him. Now, this is not sacreligous and it is not a "travesty against God" when I say this, because I speak of Jesus purely as a character and as how he is portrayed in this film not how he truly exists. But in this movie, Jesus is a wuss. You see him put Peter's ear back on (which, you know, is a total rip off of Reservoir Dogs), but other than that he doesn't do much to move me. He stands firm in his stance that he is the son of God, and that's probably the best part of this movie. After that, it's just more or less an hour and a half of people finding different ways to torture him and make him a bloody, disgusting mess. If I wasn't familiar with the Bible or Jesus, this may have left me wondering why if Jesus really was the son of God he didn't actually rise up and do something about this. Yes, I understand that this was all God's will, but the movie didn't do a good job-- a clear job-- of portraying that. This movie, like I said, was more or less an hour and a half of Jesus being beaten, and eventually a character that you don't feel the least bit sorry for is killed. So what? Why does the viewer care? To the viewer, if he is what he says he is, then have him show it. Have him rise up. Or explain to us better that this is God's will and why it is to be this way. (I think they left out the whole part about him dying for our sins)
This movie got an R rating because it is pretty brutal. Jesus takes one for the team (oh man, can I say that without being condemned?) and becomes more a picture of open wounds than flesh. There's this one device they have that they whip him with and it rips the flesh. Yeah, if you're a casual movie goer or if you only go to the movies with your church group, it's probably best to turn your head. And this may not be best suited for kids either. But as for me, well, I guess you could say that I've been desensitized by too many Tarantino films.
The point of this whole thing is that people were actually crying during this movie. When it ended, people were so shaken that they stayed in their seats while others left. Some lady in the back started singing about how "he is risen". But you know what? That all doesn't really add up to a hill of beans in this world. I wouldn't put it past anyone of those people to be Catholics because I don't think intelligent people would buy into this. Does this movie move me to go out and do good and be a better person? If you see this film, will it keep you from going to Hell? And most importantly, if someone who does not have faith sees this movie, will they be converted? Will this movie make someone want to go out and read the Bible and preach good? Probably not. And for that, it's well, just another movie.
Honestly though, I put more faith into a movie like Lord of the Rings. They had much better character depictions, and in the end, you just wanted good to triumph over evil. Here, you just don't know what to feel unless your church tells you. It's sad, but as much as any church has ever fouled up with their actions (and believe me, a lot of them have done it a lot of times), this movie is just another step in that direction. Yes, it will sell to church groups, but that is just what it is designed to do. Not coming from a church goer or an athiest or an anything really, just as someone who has faith, this movie left me feeling pretty empty inside. It made me say, "Wow, if people could take strength and faith from that, they should really see Rudy".
I couldn't decide why Mel Gibson did this movie, but I had my theories. I thought that maybe someone once told Mel that he lived a bad life and was going to Hell, so the only way to stop it was to do something great. And this was his great idea. Then I thought that maybe he was just told that Lethal Weapon 5 would suck, so he did this instead because he thought it'd make money. Well, I was right about the money part anyway. Yes, there is a sign that said part of the ticket price would be donated to some charity for churches or other, but you have to bet that a good portion of the money is going to the eighth level on Mr. Gibson's mansion. Who knew that Jesus would sell?