Movie review: The grand fantasy play of ‘Noah’ is a feat of the imagination

“Noah” seems like a hard sell. It’s not like we don’t know how it ends, right? And what’s the story there? Mankind is evil. God is unhappy. There is one good man, Noah. God chooses him, gives him a vision. Noah builds an ark. He takes two of each animal so that the world can have a massive reboot. The water subsides and the world starts anew, cleansed of the evil of Man.

What Darren Aronofsky provides us is an epic imagining of the source material. He takes all the aspects of the story we know and he amplifies and embellishes, giving us a grand fantasy play. The fun of the film isn’t in knowing what will happen, but in watching Aranofsky’s imagination at play. He has the story operate at the level of morality play and myth, rather than be a strict literal interpretation.

The visuals of the film are generally fantastic. I mean that both in terms of how good they are and in that that they invoke a sense of fantasy. While this might be set at the dawn of time, it makes implications that mankind is industrialized in some ways. This allows for some fireworks and epic battles with swords and spears and armor. There is a largeness to the film’s scope. We get expansive landscapes, densely populated battlegrounds, and of course a massive storm. Almost all of this is shot to instill a sense of awe.

My main gripe with the film is some very bad CG. There’s a flurry of images that recur throughout the film, among them a close-up of the forbidden fruit and a snake (the snake in the garden) crawling out of its skin. Everything else in this film draws me into the reality that is being created. Then this shoddy piece pulls of visual effects pulls me out of that reality.

Still, I was carried away by the film. It’s just so ambitious, so audacious in what it tries to do. And the largeness isn’t limited to the physical aspects of it. The film plays at a heightened pitch. It should, it is about the apocalypse after all. And what makes it interesting is that it focuses on the characters and their struggles, which are all too human amidst the overwhelming large biblical goings on.

Noah is a believer. He also carries the burden of being the last of his line. And of being the only good man on Earth. And imagine how big that burden must be, when God puts things in your hands. When you have to deal with the knowledge of the apocalypse. In the film, it becomes Noah’s responsibility to ensure that the world is wiped away.

This leads to a great conflict. While the Bible stories tell us that Noah was mocked, here we get a different take. We get other people becoming violent and wanting to take Noah’s ark. Noah must fend them off as he finished constructing the ark. This leads to a number of other great conflicts.

One thing I never really thought about was what it would have been like to be a member of Noah’s family. Sure, it’s awesome that you get to survive the apocalypse. But what if your dad’s a dick? It’s tough enough dealing with an intense dad, or a demanding dad. But imagine what kind of life it would be for a teenager if your dad talked to God and as a result, you had to follow what your dad says. Even if it means you can’t have a girlfriend and you’ll probably die alone.

The conflicts that Noah winds up having with his children and wife, as he is driven by his mission, makes for great story. And it’s what makes this such an interesting movie. The way that the characters are forced to deal with the conflicts are so incredibly human, even though the conflicts are operating at the level of the mythic and biblical.

Much has to be said about the cast performances. Everyone was outstanding. Russell Crowe brings both great strength and vulnerability to his Noah. Jennifer Connelly displays her own power and strength. And the actors playing their children get in amazing performances. There is a moment where Emma Watson, who played their adopted daughter, Ila, has an amazing scene as her cries turn to silent sobbing.

Now there is going to be a lot of struggle when watching this movie. It’s over the top. It’s kind of crazy. It doesn’t really all make sense. But it just tries to overwhelm with so much imagination that all of its flaws can be put up with because it is so watchable. At its best it explores the fine line between commitment and madness, belief and zealotry. It uses both fantastic elements and a realistic imagining of the way people would respond to extreme circumstances to give us an entertaining new way of looking at one of the oldest stories of all time. — VC, GMA News


"Noah" opens in theaters on June 11.