Quick Review: "Son of God"

Before I get into discussing "Son of God", let me start by saying that I don't really like most Christian movies.   Whenever they come to town,  every church-goer around begins moralizing about how we should support any movie with "Christian values". Too often they're poorly written, poorly acted, with terrible special effects, and often bad theology.   (Don't get me started on the prosperity theology of "Facing the Giants".) So I was skeptical when "The Bible" came to History Channel and even more so when they made their Jesus footage into a full length movie. But as I drove by our local theater this week and saw that the movie shows at 7pm on Wednesdays, I thought this might be a good thing to do for our youth group time.  After all,  we can discuss the movie, whether good or bad at our next group time.

I'm not movie critic but here's what I thought of "Son of God" after watching tonight.

To sum it up. Not bad. Overall, "Son of God" did a good job of telling the story of Jesus' life allowing the watcher to connect with the characters and the drama within it. I found myself with goosebumps as Jesus performed miracles, stood up to the religious leaders, and certainly when He appeared to Mary at the empty tomb. There were even moments when I couldn't help but think,  "Dang, Jesus was BA." I think the movie is good enough to tell an important story without taking too much away from it.

But, yes, there were some issues.   First, the English accent Jesus has annoys me. Is there a reason that a first century Jew that spoke Aramaic should be British in a movie? Is American English not as "Jesus-y"?  (I won't go into the issues with a super white Jesus.) And there were moments where Jesus descends into very cliche lines almost straight out of the KJV, many of which were poorly placed. For instance, as Peter gets into an altercation, Jesus says, "Peter, turn the other cheek." Peter hadn't been slapped and Jesus hadn't taught that lesson. It happened again when Peter cuts off a soldier's ear at Jesus' arrest. Jesus spits out a very cliche, "Those who live by the sword, die by the sword." And it's enough to make Peter drop his sword on the ground.  Ugh. (Yes, it's part of what Jesus says to Peter in some gospels, but was not said alone and in such a cliche way.)

I also had a bit a hard time with the effects.  The Temple looked like a toy model and so did the city of Jerusalem. Most miracles look decent, but the beating and crucifixion were a little less than realistic. Maybe the violence and realism of "The Passion of the Christ" make anything else look lame, but after almost 40 lashes, Jesus' back was in too good of shape. (Though, honestly, it was probably the right choice to reach a wider audience, so I'll give them a pass.)

When it comes down to it, there were moments that I recognized issues, but it's a worthwhile movie. I can't recall any major eye-rolling, and I felt very satisfied with the movie. My youth loved it; many were moved to tears. There is no perfect Jesus movie. Every one of them will fall short of the reality of God's Son coming to earth, but this one is worth seeing, talking about, and using as a slightly out-of-focus picture of the Gospel story.

Oh, and there was one great moment! SPOILER ALERT! Jesus goes to the tomb of His friend Lazarus who died 4 days earlier to raise him from the dead.  Jesus walks around behind Lazarus who's lying on a slab on his back. Jesus bends down and kisses his friend on the top of the head, suddenly opens His eyes, and then so does Lazarus. It was a powerful moment and a great way for them to show an amazing encounter.

My 2 cents...