Movie Review, "Risen" - any one seen it?

[NeedleinA]

Spoiler Free Zone - please! Anyone seen this yet? I have not. Just curious if anyone had a reaction to it yet? 
If you have not heard of it, it has something to do with the Romans in charge of finding Jesus's body after his resurrection. I'm sure littered with fiction, but still might be fun to see. 

Ironhold = Movie review on this one yet?

[Guest]

From the early comments and reviews it supposedly remains faithful to the original story of Jesus.  But other aspects I'm hearing about it make that difficult to believe.  

It seems to be a modern version of "The Robe".  I just hope they don't muck it up.

[Ironhold]

This isn't something I normally do, but here's my full-length review as published in the Copperas Cove Leader-Press Newspaper back on the 26th. - http://www.coveleaderpress.com/ ; https://www.facebook.com/coveleaderpress/ . The published version is behind a paywall, but this is the original. 

 

**

 

Risen

Darren Blair

Standard disclaimer applies. I’m openly religious. This is a religious film. I’m merely focused on the film itself. Et cetra.

Films about the Holy Bible have been in production for decades now. Everyone from individual religious groups to Hollywood itself has tried their hand to produce material. There have even been attempts to “update” the material or reinterpret it based on someone’s personal whims.

This film, in contrast, attempts a reasonably novel approach to making a Bible-based film: presenting a specific event through the eyes of people who are *not* already believers.

Clavius (Joseph Fiennes) is a Tribune, a high-ranking official in the Roman military. Clavius is ambitious, his goal being to get a promotion that takes him to Rome itself. But first, he has to survive his present assignment to Judea. If he’s not dealing with his demanding superior – none other than Pontius Pilate (Peter Firth) himself – then he’s dealing with the local politicians and the local violent uprisings.

At the start of the film, he is assigned to lead a unit of soldiers against one such uprising; although there are only a dozen or so rebels, they hold a surprisingly well-fortified. Clavius returns to base in the hopes of resting himself and his men, but he is met by a messenger who tells him that Pilate wants him… and it can’t wait. As Pilate explains, he was recently obligated to crucify a would-be Messiah figure named Yeshua (Cliff Curtis). However, the local religious leadership will not be happy until Yeshua is dead, and so are pressuring Pilate to finish the job. Clavius is to personally ensure the deaths of Yeshua and the two others who are being crucified alongside him, and he’s being assigned an aide named Lucius (Tom Felton) to assist him in this and future efforts.

Clavius personally assures everyone that the trio are dead, but this isn’t enough; Yeshua reportedly prophesied that he would rise from the dead after the third day, and so the politicians demand that the tomb be guarded. Clavius is sent to ensure that Yeshua’s tomb is sealed tight and that a guard is posted, but he’s so exhausted from everything that has happened of late he forgets to send the guards their evening meal. The guards try to silence their empty stomachs with alcohol, and are quickly asleep. As such, when the tomb is discovered open and Yeshua’s body has gone missing, Pilate blames Clavius and orders him to search until he’s discovered where Yeshua and his followers are.

But Clavius isn’t prepared for what he finally does discover…

I will give this film credit for one major thing: its depiction of the Romans. Most such works I’ve seen depict the Roman military, barring specific individuals such as the centurion in charge of the crucifixion site, as a faceless horde. In this, Clavius and Lucius are merely military officers trying to grapple with a problem they don’t understand through the few means that they do. In other words, they’re everyday human beings trying to do their job.

However, the film does have one big weakness: the closer we get to the end, the more the writers insist on directly inserting Clavius into the Biblical account of what took place. Past a certain point, it almost feels like Clavius is an insert character in someone’s fan-fiction. This is a shame, as it detracts from what is otherwise a well-written and well-acted movie. It’s worth seeing all told, but the MPAA isn’t kidding with that “Intense Violence” warning.

Total: 8 / 10

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 107 minutes.

[Still_Small_Voice]

I have been planning on seeing the Risen movie.  This feedback I have been reading makes me want to see it even more now.

[NeedleinA]

29 minutes ago, Ironhold said:

here's my full-length review

Thanks for sharing that, great job!!

[Sunday21]

Great review!

[Ironhold]

I just now realized that I've got a typo in there: I must have accidentally dropped a word when I went to rewrite a sentence. 

[Vort]

8 minutes ago, Ironhold said:

I just now realized that I've got a typo in there: I must have accidentally dropped a word when I went to rewrite a sentence. 

This is why any writer worth his salt loves a good editor.

[Guest]

Ironhold,

Would you say it's a modern version of "The Robe"?

[Ironhold]

58 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

Ironhold,

Would you say it's a modern version of "The Robe"?

I wouldn't go that far.