For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you Noah, and you shall come into the ark, you and your family. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
To recap for our friend Noah - God is going to destroy all of humanity, except you. The future of all life on Earth has been set entirely on your shoulders.
Imagine the strain of such responsibility. Imagine what it must have been like to shut the ark door on your fellow man, as the flood waves crashed over them. To hear their screams as they are washed away, while only you and your family survive. We know how the story goes - Noah obeys God, building the ark and gathering the animals to survive the worldwide deluge. But in that obedience, Noah must have been one emotionally conflicted guy.
The Bible doesn't provide details about how Noah and his family felt about the Great Flood, but director Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) attempts to explore this oft-unthought of aspect of the famous Genesis story with mixed, but largely successful results in the new film Noah.
A convoluted introduction includes a brief overview of the Genesis stories preceding the flood tale (stories much more effectively told later in this same film), the death of Noah's father, Noah fighting to save a scale-covered dog, a dream foreshadowing the coming destruction, and a journey to find Noah's grandfather which is interrupted by the family's capture by giant rock creatures. Aside from the vision, none of these scenes were essential to the story and their omission would have eased the audience much more fluidly into the film. Their inclusion is disorienting and it takes some time for Aronofsky to earn back our faith in the movie.
Yet once Noah and his clan receive the wisdom of Grandfather Methuselah, the film absolutely wins us over as it builds a strong sense of momentum through the building of the ark (with the help of those rock giants), the arrival of the animals, and the gathering of desperate crowds seeking refuge from the impending cosmic judgment. The drama does not only build around Noah's family, but within as well. Noah's children - for various reasons - feel as though they cannot succeed in beginning humanity again and Noah himself begins to doubt if man even deserves a place in the "new Eden."
Honestly, we almost forget that there's much more story to tell beyond the ark's construction. Yet those subsequent parts of the film are equally engaging, albeit in different ways. Once it begins, the flood is thrilling and the family's long stay on the ark (most people forget that while it rained for 40 days and nights, the waters remained over all the land for almost a year in the Biblical story) is wrought with tension. Noah is now convinced humanity does not deserve the chance to fill the world with evil for a second time.
Now desperately grappling with a sense of survivor's guilt and post-traumatic stress, this development is not out of place for the film or for Noah's character. However, the film very much feels as though it is broken into two Acts, each with a different focus. A cleaner, more precise edit of the film would have allowed this character work to unfold with a less jarring transition.
Despite this issue, Russell Crowe (Gladiator) delivers a strong performance as the titular character, while Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind) as Noah's wife and Emma Watson (the Harry Potter series) as an adopted daughter really shine in various dramatic scenes. Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast) as the antagonist, Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs) as Methuselah, and Logan Lerman (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) as the middle son of Noah are all perfectly serviceable in their roles. Which pretty much covers everyone except for Noah's other two sons, the youngest and oldest, who are totally forgettable. And who says middle children don't get attention?
Filled with striking visuals, engaging performances, and incredibly deep and thought/discussion-provoking questions of morality, Noah transforms the simple Genesis tale into a bold fusion of classical Biblical epic and fantasy adventure. It's not the story found in the Torah verbatim and it has uneven pacing issues, but the movie is a rousing saga which crashes over audiences with a tidal wave of emotion - a not so subtle demand to consider ethical implications of the story told - and with an undercurrent of classic cinema sensibilities beneath the unconventional stylings of Aronofsky.
The best way I can think of to describe the film is that for a number of reasons, most positive but some negative, Noah is a bizarrely fascinating movie-going experience.
The Final Word: 3/4 - Go buy a matinee ticket.
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