NOAH Review

Forget Paramount's horrible marketing strategy. Forget Glenn Beck. Forget everything that's been and said and done surrounding the film prior to its release, relating to Christian audiences, blasphemy, whatever else. This is a Darren Aronofsky film first and foremost. Let's start there. A clean slate, just like the earth after the flood.

The darkest biblical tale from the Book of Genesis, the story of Noah and the ark, is the premise of the writer and director's sixth feature. God, unsatisfied with his creation and what man has done to ruin it, decides to wash away the earth with a catastrophic flood, leaving Noah the task to start anew with his family and a boatload of animals. Aronofsky, who penned the script with frequent collaborator Ari Handel, takes liberties with the original story, adding in fantasy elements wherever the bible left holes. God is only referred to as the Creator and there are Watchers, towering rock monsters who help Noah build the ark. Aronofsky takes this age-old epic and applies it to the way we live today, with a ferocious message on anti-war and environmentalism, demanding the question of an almighty power doing this all over again to a world we seem so hellbent on destroying.

The acting is solid across the board, led by Russell Crowe who commands the screen as the chosen Noah, shouting his aggravation to the skies, and brooding, steadfast with his determination to the task. His wife, Naameh (Jennifer Connelly), presents a symbol of humanity and the fragility of life, who questions her husband's unwavering fate to God when faced with the most shameful of deeds -- that is, killing one's own in order to keep in God's vision of a world free from man. There are also Noah's three sons, Shem (Douglas Booth), Ham (Logan Lerman) and Japeth (Leo Carroll), along with an orphaned girl who the family takes in, Ila (Emma Watson, further proving her post-"Harry Potter" acting chops). She is to be Shem's wife and becomes the most crucial of all.

The visual effects ramp up as the stakes heighten, and a presentation of the dawn of time recalls Aronofsky's experimental side. And the score from composer mainstay Clint Mansell is robust and gorgeous. Technically speaking, the film is a marvel. Yet while there's a whole lot of howling and shockingly blunt violence in spurts, the whole ordeal surprisingly lacks a level of dramatic tension. And if Aronofsky wanted to deviate from the bible, he could've gone a whole lot weirder -- and it probably would've worked better if he had. 

"Noah" shares the mad obsessive nature of the protagonists from "Pi" and "Black Swan" and the clunky, overreaching ambition of the director's lesser work, "The Fountain." While a fine display of grandiose filmmaking, the spectacle doesn't work as much else. It's been a lot of hubbub over a movie that isn't actually all that interesting. Aronofsky should do himself a favor and get back to the art house.

Archive: 'The Day The Earth Stood Still'

Movie Review
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)


The one thing this remake of the 1951 sci-fi classic gets right is its casting. I think Keanu Reeves may actually be a real alien. He is the ultimate in having zero expression, and here, he cranks it up another level. And so, who not a better person to have play Klaatu, the monotone and emotionless alien who's come to save the earth from ourselves? The message of the original was that humankind needs to learn to stop killing each other with violence. Now, in 2008, we simply need to learn to stop engorging ourselves and be respectful to the earth. And we need threateningly large, ominously glowing spheres of doom to get this message across to us. I didn't know aliens were aligned to a particular political party. That is what we're getting at here, right?

It's timely, yes, but it's also packaged into a movie that is downright uninvolved and dull. If you want to see it done right, turn your attention to "WALL-E." "The Day the Earth Stood Still," like it's leading man, is equally stolid. It's an expensive-looking movie, and there are some pretty handsome special effects, but none are ever put to good use. Even the inevitable destruction of Manhattan feels tired and derivative. I think it was a different time in the 50s when we were more easily entertained. This remake at this point just feels wholly unnecessary and like many alien destruction movies we've seen already.

Jennifer Connelly plays Helen Benson, a scientist who is apprehended by the government to assist with the appearance of the glowing sphere in Central Park. Once her involvement gets underway, she finds an odd connection with Klaatu, trusts him, and ends up trekking around with him, mostly through vast amounts of woods. Of course, the fate of the world ends up being put in her hands alone. The Defense Secretary who's been assigned to speak for the president and vice president is played by Kathy Bates. She's a straightforward, no funny business type woman, and her character is probably meant to represent something. She does receive a call from the president to make a fatal military attack. Take from that what you may.

Although I'm familiar with the 1951 classic, I'm ashamed to say that I haven't actually seen it; however, I doubt any justice is being done with this junk. While out saving the planet, Helen is also accompanied by her son. Or, rather, not her real son because she married her son's dad, but then he died. I don't know why we're given this information. The son, Jacob, is played by Jaden Smith, who was really good in "The Pursuit of Happyness." Here, he annoyed the hell out of me. The stupid kid whines about wanting Klaatu dead but then conveniently changes his mind when the time's right. There's a moment when Klaatu so graciously saves Jacob from slipping off the edge of a bridge. Good for him because I would've let him fall.