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Rating: 3.5 out of 5
If any of us has been to Sunday school, then we have heard of the story of Noah. Yup, the one with the ark and bring two of each animal worldwide. Then there is a big ass flood that washed away all life besides Noah and the animals. One day the waters disappeared, and here we are today. I have never read the Bible, but I can tell you that I know some of the details of the story as my mom is a big churchgoer. She told me about the floods and the doves and that Noah had a family with kids. Darren Aronofsky comes along and finds inspiration from the biblical story of Noah’s Ark in the Book of Genesis and the Book of Enoch. He took a completely different route by telling and changing a few elements. I really don’t know because Darren Aronofsky is a psychological nut when it comes to making movies.
This version of the story is centered on Noah (Crowe). God entrusted Noah to save the innocent animals of Earth as the rising floodwaters cleansed the planet of mankind’s evil. Noah receives visions that tell him of the impending doom. Through narration, we learn the story of man from how Adam and Eve’s sins have been passed down through the generations from their sons Cain and Abel, and how the descendants of their righteous sibling Seth were entrusted with defending creation. When Noah was a young boy, his father and himself were forging when his father was slain by a descendant of Cain. After surviving, Noah grows into a man. He is the father of three children. Noah begins to experience a vision of himself floating in large bodies of water. Seeking advice, Noah decides to ask his grandfather, Methuselah (Sir Hopkins), the reason behind the visions. Noah receives a second vision where he must construct a massive ark to shelter every living animal during the great flood. Noah recruits his family, his wife Naameh (Connelly), their three sons Shem (Booth), Ham (Lerman), and Japheth (Carroll), and their adoptive sister Ila (Watson) to start constructing the ark. Noah also receives help from beings called the Watchers, a race of angels that had fallen and turned to mud and stone for forsaken God for their attempts to help man. Word begins to spread of Noah’s work, and it reaches the ears of Tubal-Cain (Winstone), who gathers an army on a mission to overtake the ark, and survive the coming storm at any cost.
Since I am not a spiritual person nor go to church or any of that stuff, I am going to just review what I saw. I want to say that the film was out there for me. Was it thought-provoking? Yes. I know that some of the stuff happened in the Bible, but there was stuff where I was like, what is going on? First off, the whole angel thing. Cool, you need angels in the film but damn, to make them like that was something else. Then the entire humanity and them looking like straight savages. I don’t know when Sodom and Gomorrah happened, but that crew could’ve rolled right up with them. Let’s not even start with what happened after the waters disappeared. I heard that Noah became a drunk, but damn, homeboy was naked and didn’t have any of his life together.
I will say that the film’s visual effects and tone were straight-up incredibly done. They were the absolute highlight of the film. The style was dark and gloomy world. Aronofsky showed that the world was a terrible place to live, and God had to step in because he was tired of their shit. The effects are great, and the whole flooding scene was intense. When the angels are “killed,” you see the burst of light. Where the effects are really grand is when Noah tells his story about the creation and how man destroyed the world. It was a sight to see and so well done.
As far as the cast goes, everyone did a fine job. I want to spend some time on Russel Crowe. He was good as Noah as he showed a man who didn’t know what to do. When the time came, he was a man who protected the ark and his family. Crowe had no shame in the third phase when he roamed around. Also, Jennifer Connelly was good as the loving wife, Naameh. She supported her husband because if I saw a giant ass boat, I would have some major questions. Finally, Ray Winstone as Tubal-Cain was intense. When homeboy threatened Noah, he was straight-up scary.
I want to give props to Darren Aronofsky. Ever since I watched Requiem for a Dream, I have been terrified to watch any of Aronofsky’s films. Don’t get me wrong, they are always mind-blown and trippy to watch. This one wasn’t as intense as his previous works, and I want to say thank you. My mind probably would’ve melted if it was another crazy film.
Noah is a good film that can be a tad bit of the basis for reading about this Bible tale. I wouldn’t take it at face value, but the film is really good with excellent visuals and a story. The performances were pretty good and kept this film afloat. Watch a story about the legendary ark.
