I saw the movie Noah today. It's got drama. It's got thrills. It's got action. It's got a few moments that bring a tear to your eye. It's actually a well-made production, with excellent acting and amazing photography and effects.
A warning though - if you are going to see Noah expecting true-to-the-Bible accuracy, forget it. Don't even go. You need to realize that it's not entitled "Noah - The True Story". If that was the title everybody would be up in arms including me. If you go looking to tear it apart for inaccuracies you won't need to watch very long, and you would need a big piece of paper. I guess I would describe it as a spin-off fantasy that's based on a Bible story. But that's just what the film makers wanted it to be.
What bothers me are the movies or shows that actually claim to be a accurate representations of the Bible, but are filled with false doctrine. See my previous posts on such productions, for example the History Channel's Bible series. What is especially offensive to me, and I believe to all Christians, are those movies that portray Jesus Christ inaccurately. After all, now you're talking about our Savior and Lord, and if you are making a movie about Him, you better step very carefully.
The movie Noah doesn't claim to be that type of a movie at all. Paramount Pictures actually issued this press release on 02/27/14 to help audiences better understand that the feature film is a dramatization of the major scriptural themes and not a line-by-line retelling of the Bible story. Here's what they are adding to all future promotions, as well as the movie's website: "The film is inspired by the story of Noah. While artistic license has been taken, we believe that this film is true to the essence, values, and integrity of a story that is a cornerstone of faith for millions of people worldwide. The biblical story of Noah can be found in the book of Genesis."
Unfortunately, this press release was issued too late, after they received negative publicity. It's unfortunate that this statement was not incorporated at the very beginning of the movie. If it was, it would have removed a lot of criticism about it's accuracy, right up front. I wish it was there, because this statement by Paramount really helped me get a good perspective on the movie. And talk about artistic license, that's putting it mildly.
Obviously, what's good about this movie is that it prompts people to read the Bible rendition of Noah found in Genesis, and get into discussions about it, although I wonder if any non-believers would do that. I certainly have spent a lot of time in Genesis because of it. What's bad is that it is filled with so much distortion of truth, that those who don't bother to learn the true story from the Bible, will come away wondering what was true and what wasn't.
What I didn't like about it was that it took, what I thought, excessive liberty in trying to convince us that Noah was human in his weaknesses. They really played on his hypothetical faults, one of his children's supposed disobedience, and all kinds of twisted un-truths. But, it's just a movie, right? That's what I needed to keep reminding myself.
There are some things I liked. For example, how they were creative in coming up with a process of putting the animals in the ark into a hibernation state. Or how they showed how the rains and flood started.
Probably, looking back on it, the most memorable characters were what they called the Watchers. They were supposedly fallen angels originally, who were turned into huge rock-like, transformer creatures by God. These were sort of good-guys in the end. If there were any heroes in the movie, the Watchers were it, and if you ask me, they stole the show.
So, yes, I recommend you go see Noah. Just realize what kind of movie this is before you see it. It's well done as a stand alone adventure. And remember it's got a little truth with a whole lot of artistic license. Most importantly, let this whole Noah thing prompt you to read Genesis chapters 5 through 9.
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