(SPOILER WARNING!!! This article does contain spoilers, if you haven’t seen the movie, just see the first paragraph to be informed without spoilers!!!)

Noah as a fairy tale was very artistic and creative, but as being Biblical it is an abomination, Noah did have an inspirational purpose, but this movie did not inspire my human nature one bit. Rating 2.5 out of 5.

Before I start to tear this movie apart let me just say that yes I am a Seventh-day Adventist Christian. I do believe what the Bible says, and find a lot of inspiration and purpose with each of their stories. With that said, I do have an open mind when it comes to changes for a movie as long as it is in good taste, and still sends the message as an inspirational purpose for all of us that believes. Kind of like in Comic Book movies as well, people have certain canonization for the stories and characters and will freak out when there is a change. I, who also is a big fan of comic books movies, also approaches this with an open mind and trust the changes if it is in good taste. (The Fantastic Four reboot is really pushing it so far). However, when it comes down to movies about characters in the Bible, you are playing with a major religion that has deep beliefs and canon with their stories. One change can spark a lot of controversy, so there has to be a purpose. One movie I think about is The Passion of the Christ, some people thought the movie was too gory, too bloody, but in my opinion, it wasn’t bloody enough. Jesus had to endure a lot of blood shattering pain and anguish for us to have a chance in salvation. I thought the movie revitalized our faith in God in His ultimate gift for us, and what He was willing to endure for us. The Prince of Egypt provided that same hope and message for us as well. That no matter how bad of a past you lived, God does have a purpose for you in this Earth. With Moses, his purpose was to lead the Hebrew slaves out of slavery to freedom, and it gave new hope to people that all they believed was that they are slaves and that’s that. With the story of Noah, it is a story that did show God’s true wrath, but it was also a symbol of hope for all humanity who still believes in God. I did come into this movie with an open mind, (I knew some parts were not Biblical, but have to see for myself), but came out shaking my head in disbelief. I will start with what I didn’t like, to what I liked.

What I didn’t like, man where to start. Let’s start with the rock monsters called “The Watchers.” In our canonization it does mention the Nephilim which was a species that is mentioned in the Bible. It is one of Christianity biggest mysteries of who they really are. Many people believe that they were descendants of Cain whom God has marked him as evil when he was exiled after killing his brother Abel. Another belief is God’s fallen angels that were banished to Earth with Satan, and they either have mated with themselves or other humans. Not many Christians want to believe that, and just say they were angels protecting people. The movie brought this theory out that they were fallen angels, but not to follow Satan, but to help with humanity. God has punished these angels into rock monsters called “The Watchers” and they were also not well received by humans on Earth. Until they found Noah, and had hope again, because they finally found a guy who worships God, or as the movie called it, “The Creator,” and helped Noah with the ark (which God gave specifics in how to build it, Biblically speaking,) and defending him from the rest of the people. In some scenes, these guys looked fake, and were CGI’ed a little off. If that was the only thing that was not Biblical I would’ve moved past that, and still say it was a good movie. Of course, it get’s worse believe it or not. Biblically speaking, during Noah’s time of building the ark, he was preaching about God’s word to all the humans around. Giving them a chance to repent and be saved by what is coming. He gave the people a chance to be in the ark, but they all thought he was crazy, because they never seen rain before, let alone a flood. In the movie, Noah believed that the ark was for only himself and his family, and the animals God brought to the ark. Noah wasn’t that selfish as the movie showed, and the environment isn’t all that Noah cared for. On the contrary, he wanted to save as many humans as possible, but the rest of the people rejected him. Once Noah gave them their last chance to repent and come into the ark, still no one came, and Noah goes into the door which was shut by God. That was it, there was no war between “The Watchers” and the humans that wanted to come in. The humans had their chance, and pretty much blew their chance. So all he had left was his family, and all three of his sons had their wives with them. He didn’t have that struggle with Ham about finding him a wife. Biblically speaking, that was all set. Also, Biblically speaking, the family were in the ark for 40 days and forty nights. The movie made it that they were there for at least 9 months, and sparked to me the biggest controversy the movie brought yet. When Sham’s wife became pregnant, Noah was enraged because he believed that God is starting the world over without any humans. He thought God chose him to save the lives of the animals and the environment, and Noah knew he could complete the task with the belief that there is no more hope for human life. Biblically speaking, that is not true, God wanted the people to be saved to move on with their new lives blessed by God, and don’t have to worry about the wickedness of other people. Instead what the movie decided to do was just depressing. First off, when Sham’s wife became pregnant, it enraged Noah to a point where he doubts himself and goes to God, and then he had another belief, supposedly told by God that if the baby is a girl that he will kill it. Much to the chagrin of his family, he was looked at as a crazy man. Until the day the baby was born, which ends up to be two baby girls, it shows how much great lengths Noah will go to do what supposedly God told him to do. In the end, he couldn’t complete the task, and realized he has failed God. Once they have officially landed, Noah went on a drunken depression, his son Ham decided to leave his family, and everything for a moment was dysfunctional. Until Noah came to his senses, that all they need in his family was love, and that was keeps his descendants going. He might have disobeyed God, but as long as he has his family, he is good. Wow, what a Diestically way to look at your future life. A life without God’s gift of hope or blessing. Don’t get me wrong, a family’s love is great, but you need God’s love to look forward to the future of god’s plans. Biblically speaking, God saw how wicked the rest of the humans are before the flood that He knew that it needed to be wiped out. He chose the only true follower of God in Noah to build an ark to save the animals and all people who believed in God. They gave the people their chance to repent and be a part of the ark, but didn’t. Once the flood ended, God gave Noah and his family with all his sons and wives a new life not having to worry about the wickedness of the rest of the world. It gave them new hope to not only live with their family, but with the hope that God is always with them, and that’s why they sacrifice a lamb on the altar. It shows that in the future that God will send His son as the ultimate sacrifice for us to have salvation and eternal life. Noah’s story was about starting over with the hope of God protecting us. That He will protect us from evil, and provide what we need. He also promised with a symbol of a rainbow, that he will never destroy the world with a flodd ever again. That’s all, unlike the movie, where he wanted to destroy humanity and leave the earth with nature. If that’s so, than why not start with Adam and Eve sinning. Other things I didn’t like in the movie was how Methuselah, played by Anthony Hopkins, was some kind of magician or witch doctor, and the way he died by finally finding a berry he craved for before the water took him. Also, I found it funny, how when all the animals got into the ark, that they drugged them to sleep during the whole time they were in the ark. I also hated that Noah’s main enemy, Tubal-cain played by Ray Winstone, found a way into the ark during the flood, which created a unnecessary fight scene with Noah and Noah killed him off.

What I liked, the movie had some good special effects with the flood scenes, how the animals came to the ark, and the one scene of how God created the Earth. Director Darren Aronofsky is an artsy director, and he did put in some artful scenes in the movie that made it beautiful. One scene that comes to mind is when Noah awakes from his dream and you see him outside right before dawn and seeing a purple and orange scene. To me that is a very creative and artfully shot scene. I thought the acting was pretty good. Russell Crowe played a good Noah for the most part. Jennifer Connelly playing Noah’s wife shows how supportive she was to Noah, and how she felt when Noah wanted to kill his son’s offspring. Every actor in the movie played well, and showed their part on how Noah is as a family man. The one scene that I thought was shot and acted well, was when Noah was in the village of the rest of the people. Showed how wicked these people really are and what they did to the environment. Shows why God needed to destroy the world, because of these non-believers.

Overall, this movie had potential to be a really good Biblical movie. However, it became a good an artful movie that was not Biblical at all. It would be good for The Lord of the Rings or Eragon, but to call this a Bible movie, I can’t accept it. I walked away from the movie theater very disappointed, it could show a true message about God’s love and hope, but instead it just showed God as a mass murderer and leaving Noah and his family behind without Him and His blessing. It didn’t give the Bible and God justice. One thing I will say to Aronofsky, if you are an Atheist, why bother making this movie. Is it that you wanted to sabotage God into an evil spirit, because if that is so, you are wrong and will be praying for you. Stick with what you good at in creating creepy artsy movies. Let a real Christian or believer, who knows the true meaning of God’s word and purpose. Lord help us!!! Rating 2.5 out of 5