Risen - film of many genres

[Hortator]

I saw this about a week ago, sorry if I'm fuzzy on details
Risen is the name of a recent "faith" film. While it is not classified strictly as a faith film, I'd say the category is half-correct. The first 1/2 of Risen is a quasi mystery and drama, with an emphasis on deductive detective work in 33 A.D. The second half of the movie can safely be described as faith.

As I mentioned, the setting of this historical mystery/drama is 33 A.D., literally beginning in Jerusalem after the Crucifixion of Christ. The main character is Clavius, a well-seasoned, almost grizzled Roman Centurion who is the fictional right hand man of Pontius Pilate, who is the antagonist. (Pontius is always, in popular culture, portrayed on the spectrum ranging from morally bankrupt, to a man trying to do what is best and necessary with his given circumstances. Risen puts Pontius Pilate right in between those two poles, flanked by the Pharisees who appear almost worse.)

Clavius is more interesting than the Roman senator, however. Especially the situation he is given. After Christ rose from His tomb, the tenuous Jewish-Roman government was concerned of a rebellion if his body was not found, as they believed Jesus' body was merely taken instead. Clavius believes this too, as he was a witness to the 'death' of Jesus on Calvary.

Clavius must use every resource he can scrounge up to find out what happened to the supposed body, and along the way, almost grows mad from the lack of sense his hunt makes, as every lead he chases down turns into a dead end, with the only logical conclusion being something supernatural.

This is where Risen differs from the rest of the faith films. It is from the perspective of an unbeliever who uses purely secular reasoning to see his world. So for those not of the faith, you won't feel like you're being preached to. Indeed, I never felt that. It isn't until he literally sees Christ, the Jew he saw die, alive again that his character begins an extraordinary change. (While the official movie description describes Clavius as an agnostic, he made a fevered prayer to Mars and even gave an offering of gold to him for help finding Jesus.)

For Clavius, having seen Jesus again, the poetic license is dropped, and the movie script quickly reverts back to biblical scripture rather than the historical fiction it was after the introduction. Clavius gives up his post and career to follow Jesus, though from a distance as he is understandably not trusted by the apostles, but they warm up to him and he is allowed several audiences with Jesus, all of which change his character dramatically.

Highlights of the film: Historical accuracy was fascinating and highly on point. I learned things, as a Latin nerd, I did not know before about the Romans. I also liked how every reference to Jesus was "Yeshua", as He would have been called back then. (Yeshua also looked similar to His countrymen too, brown hair and brown eyes rather than the famous blue-eyes portrayal) This was by far the strongest point, almost to the level that I think this may have started out as a documentary film at one point, but was reverted half-way through.

Flaws: Sadly, the film's writing is half-baked. Many movies have three "acts", where the setting changes dramatically. Risen has only two, which become stale after a while of viewing the same color palate for an hour each. The pace would be very slow in some portions, while being jackrabbit quick during others. I may have said so in a previous thread, but I think this project was partially rushed to meet an Easter Sunday release deadline.

In between? Acting was what you would expect. Obviously, nothing Oscar-worthy, but no performance was distracting either. Musical score was nothing to write home about, and the cinematography was average, with some worthy camera angles. I believe the "action" scenes were peppered in simply to keep the audience awake, frankly.

The median score with critics for this film is about 60%, rounded up. With average Joe audience members like you and me, it was 80% rounded up. I'd say, for myself, it was in between at 70%. I felt like the critics on both sides were giving 5-stars and 0-stars based on whether or not the film was a faith film, which is was and was not.

Up next: I'll be reviewing The Matrix Reloaded at the behest of @IceMobster . I said I would!

[IceMobster]

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Hey bro, where did you watch the film? I don't have any luck with these torr***s. (Censored in order not to get banned as it so happened on some other forums)

Up next: I'll be reviewing The Matrix Reloaded at the behest of @IceMobster . I said I would!

Yeah, yeah. You are late!

[Hortator]

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Hey bro, where did you watch the film? I don't have any luck with these torr***s. (Censored in order not to get banned as it so happened on some other forums)

Just a matinee last Thursday because I had a few hours to kill, so I just picked what was playing then almost at random

Yeah, yeah. You are late!

I'm the laziest guy I know.

[IceMobster]

Just a matinee last Thursday because I had a few hours to kill, so I just picked what was playing then almost at random

Pff... I'll read your first post once a torr**t comes up and I watch the movie.