Noah (2014)

Director: Darren Aronofsky
Writers: Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel
Stars: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, Anthony Hopkins

Trailer: Click Here           IMDB Link: Click Here   

Please Note: The Following May Contain Spoilers (But I Tried Hard Not To)

Okay so I will assume straight out that you all know the story of Noah & the Ark so I don’t need to give a plot outline here. What I will start with, however, is the fact that I was a devout Catholic earlier in my life but as it stands now I’m 100% an atheist. These points are valid because it means that prior to seeing Noah I honestly had no desire to do so. It was a free screening through work that actually got me into the cinema and considering I would never have gone of my own free will I am incredibly glad this opportunity came up. If you haven’t already guessed, I enjoyed this movie a lot more than I ever thought I would. The trick for me was to shake the fact that I was going in to watch a biblical story and instead go in with the mindset that it was a movie, a spectacle, which was just telling a fantastical story and was meant to be a piece of entertainment rather than factual. It worked and I was really very impressed by the movie, so much more than I ever thought I would be.

Visually Noah is spectacular. There are some brilliant scenes throughout showing the flood, the building of the ark, the 7 days of building the world and the visions Noah receives are beautiful and impressive to watch. Yes of course these are mostly done with special effects but it is the structure and creation of each scene that make it worthy and enjoyable. It never detracts from the film and in fact helps to emphasis the overall ‘epic’ feel of the story as a whole. I was also very impressed with the design of the ‘fallen angels’ who where these giant rock structures (yes it’s explained why in the movie) that were created really well and I loved the fact that they weren’t the standard human looking angel with wings. I think I would have had a distinctly different feel toward the movie if they hadn’t been how they were.

The cast, now where do I start with them? Russell Crowe hmm yeah he was a little average and I did have moments throughout where I was distracted by thinking that he portrayed a homeless man way to well. The rest of the cast, however, were brilliant. I honestly think they lifted Crowe up and gave him the appearance of being better by how believable and great they were. Emma Watson, Jennifer Connolly, Logan Lerman & Douglas Boooth were just so fantastic and convincing that I surprisingly found myself emotionally invested in their characters and storylines even getting choked up at the appropriate moments or cheering them on at others.
Anthony Hopkins also has a minor roll but like Russell Crowe it just felt like he was going through the motions of another movie and I didn’t really have that much love for him. In fact, I found him to be more of the funny character, the one who provided the laughs for the audience and in reality I felt as though this film didn’t really require someone like that. At least he didn’t have much screen time so that was okay.

So yes Noah is a biblical story and yes it has corny moments but it is definitely an entertaining watch and visually stunning throughout. Don’t be like me and vow not to watch it because it’s a bible story or it stars Russell Crowe (yes I know that’s a thing haha), go and experience Noah for yourself and make your own judgements……..and just in case any of you are wondering, NO it has not magically made me believe in God or the bible again, Crowe’s acting isn’t that great 🙂

Reasons to watch: The fanatic visual scenes, for Russell Crowe looking like a homeless man, the great acting by the rest of the cast oh and make sure you go to the bathroom beforehand…..there is A LOT of water in this movie J

Review: 3/5

These are my views and opinions and are shared for entertainment purposes only. Happy watching