Movie Review: Risen
What We Liked
What We Didn't Like
No matter what, religion is always going to be interesting debate in any form of an adaption. That’s why biblical films are hard to make and why we have so few. The Passion of the Christ (2004) was a film about the last twelve hours of the life of Jesus which was marked by much controversy due its violent and graphic themes. A different kind of biblical film was The Prince of Egypt (1998), an animated film, which was designed specifically for the kid market. When it comes down to it, the stand out biblical film will always be The Ten Commandments (1956). It was a film that was not only unique for its time but it 
has also remained popular to the present day. The new biblical film Risen brings more of a blockbuster feel to the genre. Directed by Kevin Reynolds, who is probably best remembered for directing the infamous Waterworld (1995), Risen has a lot going for it. There are a lot of things about the film that work along the way, but Risen is just too simple for it to come across as anything positive.
After a tomb is opened and the body of the Jewish messiah Yeshua (Jesus) is found to be missing, it’s up to a powerful roman named Calvius (Joseph Fiennes) to solve the mystery surrounding it. Essentially, this is a film all about the forty days after the resurrection.
More so then anything, Risen depends so much on Joseph Fiennes. He’s the center of attention in most scenes and his character goes through so much. It’s interesting to cast Fiennes, an actor who has been around awhile but is still someone who might not be well known to a general film fan. Fiennes acting is not an issue, but he never grips you as powerfully as he should and he generally seems plain. You never seem to warm up to him nor do you ever feel for him. Let’s also not forgot the character Lucius as played by Harry Potter alum Tom Felton. Lucius is an officer of the army and, more so than Calvius, you can identify with Lucius due to his strong underdog tones.
I think the main audience that will be enjoy seeing Risen will do so because of the Jesus portrayed by Cliff Curtis. A character that can attract such a wide range of people. The issue is that Risen shows Jesus through the depiction of a cat and mouse story. At times Jesus is with his disciples while at other times he’s completely absent. With him being nowhere to be seen, you never get to know him nor is he given much to do when he is on screen. For a guy this powerful, he’s not depicted as such.
Once you get to the third act of Risen, not much is happening. Everything seems to be wrapped up by the middle of the film and the story wanders around going nowhere. Sure, you get a nice fishing scene, and I liked the desert atmosphere that’s present, but the main conflict is well over with. This is a film that sells itself short and boasts a script that could be tweaked.
Finally, we shouldn’t forget that this film got pushed back close to a month after it originally was meant to come out, when an April release would have made much more sense. This was a film I wanted more story out of and was left wanting. Risen was close to being good but suffered too many issues along the way.
Alexander Wolff
