Risen

As I've mentioned once or twice before, I love me some movies. Going to an advance screening is something I've always wanted to experience. Being able to see a movie most people can't is cool.

I got to go to my first advance screening last night. The film was the new faith based flick Risen.

Christian movies are a really challenging thing to make... and rarely done well. It's easy to put the focus more on the moral/ message than on the characters and the story (a good story with real characters will convey a message better than a message with a story tacked on).

The best way I've seen to combat this is by setting your film around the life of Jesus. The story and the message go hand it hand. It makes for some really compelling stuff. Risen is a great example of that!

Risen is the story of a Roman centurion who is assigned the job of discovering what happened to the body of Jesus. It's a pretty clever set up really, take a story we all know... and add a slight twist.

It was a lot of fun to see Clavius (the Roman played by Joseph Fiennes) investigate the resurrection and wrestle with his own faith.

I also loved the way the disciples were portrayed. They really felt like sheep without a shepherd.

As is to be expected,
there was some poetic license taken. That being said, it was probably the best type of license you can take. It didn't change or effect the story in a negative way.

I give it a hearty thumbs up. However, I will say that the first 5 minutes does have a fairly intense action scene. Pretty brutal. I wouldn't recommend the beginning for kids. After that it's pretty tame... aside from shots of the crucifixion... again... which is to be expected!

It hits theatres this weekend. Check it out!