It is refreshing to see Mary Magdalene ( Amber Rose Revah) as an accepted part of the Apostle group (although not invited to the Last Supper) her sex not even commented on. My favorite Pontius Pilate is still David Bowie from Martin Scorsese's " The Last Temptation of Christ," but this Pilate is pretty entertaining. We see him strolling around in a see-through nightie, getting massages, fighting gladiators for exercise, and lolling about on chaise longues with his hottie wife, eating grapes. Greg Hicks plays Pontius Pilate as a macho guy nervous about his new position as governor, wanting to please his overlords and keep the Jews in line at the same time. There are a couple of weird details I liked, mostly having to do with casting. Or Pilate, looking on as Jesus is dragged out to be tortured, murmuring, "It's as if he knows that this must happen." "We have to take his message straight to the heart of power," one Apostle helpfully exclaims. He threatens those in power, not only the Jewish high priests (led by Caiaphas, played by Adrian Schiller), but the Romans occupying Jerusalem.įilmed like a blockbuster epic, with quick cuts, hi-definition photography, a moody insistent score by Lorne Balfe, and some awkward repetitive CGI shots of what is clearly a model of the Temple in Jerusalem, "Son of God" features a pretty bad script, especially when all of the Apostles are talking amongst themselves about Jesus' message and what it all will lead to.
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His followers multiply, and so do his critics. Jesus' miracles come off as party tricks throughout the film, with the watching crowd breathing "Oooh!" as something incredible happens. Peter tells him there are no fish out there, and Jesus, smirking, runs his hands through the water and Presto! Peter's net is filled with fish. When Jesus (played by Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado), first approaches the fisherman Peter ( Darwin Shaw), loading up his boat in the dead-calm Sea of Galilee, Jesus smiles knowingly at Peter like he's got a secret. Watch Jesus multiply the loaves and fishes and walk on water and raise Lazarus from the dead. Unlike Gibson's film, which focused on Jesus' arrest, torture, and death, "Son of God" takes us through Jesus' life from its humble beginnings in the barn, to the gathering of his followers, his march to Jerusalem, and all of the miracles he performed along the way. But it's a tough draught to swallow if you're not in the mood for a sermon. "Son of God"'s earnest-ness is not necessarily a strike against it it was made by earnest people who want to spread the word.
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It's heavy-handed and melodramatic, openly sentimental, and extremely earnest. "Son of God" is explicitly for Christian audiences (I saw it with a church group, who applauded mightily as the credits started to roll), opening with a dreamy voiceover from the Apostle John telling us how God has always been there, as we see images of fighting dinosaurs, Noah's Ark crashing through the waves, and a "Blue Lagoon"-style glimpse of Adam and Eve in the Garden. They seem petty, fearful and small-minded. The Jews in power still don't come off great in "Son of God". There has also been a concerted effort to reach out to Jewish groups, in the hopes of avoiding the charges of anti-Semitism Mel Gibson's " The Passion of the Christ" faced. Burnett and Downey have chosen instead to reach out to church groups for screenings, relying on a grass-roots awareness campaign to get the word out. There has been very little traditional advertising for the film. "Son of God" is the Jesus section of that mini-series, brought to large screens in the hopes of finding an even wider audience. The mini-series was nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys and received high audience ratings.
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Last year, the History Channel aired a mini-series called "The Bible", executive produced by husband and wife Mark Burnett and Roma Downey (who also played Mary, Jesus' mother).