Much has been said by Christians about the movie, Noah, and many of those folks have actually seen the movie. For some, the movie is an affront to the faith and for others it is a great tool for evangelism. Now that I've seen it, I'll share my opinions. In short,
I don’t agree with either of the above assertions, but it is still a good
movie. If you read further, please know that what follows contains spoilers.
To appreciate the movie, you have to accept that it is an
adaptation. It has to be that way. It would be a very short movie if it did not
fill in the gap with some imagination and artistic license. We expect that from
every movie based on a book and, not surprisingly, we are usually unhappy with
the difference between the two. If you take your Bible to compare notes, you
will be frustrated. It is worth pointing out that Christians are guilty of
making our own additions to this story. From my childhood, I remember such adaptions
as people mocking Noah for building the ark, Noah begging others to join them
on the ark, and we don’t have unicorns now because they were too vain to get on
the ark.
Noah is not short
on adaptions. The backstory to the development of civilization sounds more like
the Tower of Babel, though in the Bible that’s after Noah’s story. The large
stone creatures inhabited by angelic beings is a nod to the Nephilim. The
attack on the ark and Tubal Cain’s sneaking onto the ark are entertaining
filler that don’t do injustice to the original story. The injustice actually
comes later.
Noah does several
things well. It is visually pleasing. The special effects are excellent. The
retro, hand drawn animations that tell of the events leading up to the flood
are an enjoyable shift in style. The scenes capturing
the ugliness of humanity’s sin are powerful. The characters, though oddly
pretty for that time – particularly Shem, are easy to like. They possess the
same mix of good and bad so typical of the Bible’s heroes.
The movie also effectively captures the essence and extent
of the fall of humanity. I think this is the reason for the unfounded claims
that it is just a cover for the environmentalist’s agenda. The volume of trees
cut down to build the ark should be sufficient reason to doubt that claim.
Christians too often think of the consequence of Adam and Eve’s sin as simply
our personal separation from God. The apostle Paul helps us see that it was so
much more than that. All of creation was subjected to “futility” as a result of
the fall. Paul says “that the whole creation has been groaning together in the
pains of childbirth until now. (Romans 8:22 ESV)” The violence, starvation,
greed, and lust “tastefully” on display among people living in a parched
wasteland give full expression to the fall.
There some elements of the original story that the movie
doesn’t do well. There is a lot of angst about a wife for Ham, but in the
original story all three sons are married. And of course Japheth seems a little
young for the married version in the Bible. Noah spiraling into depression on
the ark and nursing an obsession with killing Shem and Ila’s baby upon birth is
just weird. God’s speaks directly to Noah many times in Genesis 6-9, but God in
the movie God is impersonal and the revelation of the flood is vaguely conveyed
in dreams. Trying to capture a talking God in movies is difficult, impersonal
revelation misses the character of God so central to Scripture.
All of that is forgivable, but there is one twist to the
story that does great injustice to the original. In fact, I’m surprised that
this flaw has received far less attention than the outrage that Noah doesn’t
say the word “God” or that the environmentalists hijacked the story. Near the
end of the movie in a conversation between Noah and Ila, his daughter-in-law,
it is concluded that the reason humanity had a future is because God gave Noah
the chance to choose love and spare his grandchildren’s lives.
If Noah had chosen differently, humanity would have ended. The
real story in Genesis has a completely different explanation for the reason
humanity survives this flood of judgment upon its sin: as an act of grace God covenants
with Noah to save him and his family. The notion that the God of Creation would
give Noah the choice to allow humanity to survive or not makes the God of this
movie out to be incredibly apathetic towards his beloved creatures and wholly
out of touch with the God of the Bible. Mercy, redemption, and the grace of God
are why humanity lives and not the decision of Noah. It makes Noah out to be
greater than God and God lesser than Noah.
Should you see it or not? You won’t waste your money seeing
it. If you liked Spiderman or Superman or Braveheart, then you will probably
like Noah. I'd suggest viewing it on the big screen as opposed to DVD, at least if your entertainment technology is no better than mine. If you don't watch it, your life will
not be diminished one bit. I don’t imagine it will lead to great
conversations about faith, but if it has the potential do that with your
friends, then watch it. Just make sure your friends understand the real story of God's mercy and grace that sustains humanity.
