I am giving this movie a 6 in thanks' to the great job done by the actors. While I do not wish to downplay the performance of Russel Crowe as the main character Noah (his acting was truly heavy with emotion, indecision and human doubt) or Anthony Hopkins who had more presence in the movie than all the others put together, despite the fact he had the least time on the screen, I've felt like the movie was mostly saved by Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Jennifer Connelly. All the other characters or members of Noah's family were simply not memorable and lacked depth.
I believe this is due to the fact that we all know the turmoil experienced by Noah and, thus, it was the stories of these young people who had to live by the decisions of their father and adoptive father respectively that touched me the most. J. Connelly does a wonderful job as the supportive mother and Emma Watson really grew in on me throughout the movie, her own tragedy very touching and her cunning mind being pivotal to the hardest decision Noah had to ever make.
However, it was the story of Ham played by Logan Lerman that captivated me the most and made me experience a true roller coaster of emotions and feelings. To me, his performance was the best of all and most surprising, coming from such a young man as I only remember him from the Percy Jackson movies. This was a very different role and I was truly amazed. I believe he was the only character in the movie who had dared to actually question God's will, the essence of human and manhood, the very concepts of innocence and sin... he was also the one to actually say it aloud that the Great Flood had taken the innocents together with the sinners. This was exactly what I was expecting of the movie - the eternal battle of what is right and wrong, the perception that among the evil in this world there is good, too, and that the innocents are mostly buried underneath the sinners, judged and forced to suffer for the sins of others.
To my heavy disappointment, Ham was the only character to even come close to these philosophical questions and, truth be told, the most realistic human depiction and the only character I truly felt for during the entire movie. All the others got overshadowed and the actions and decisions made by them were difficult for me to perceive and sympathize with. I grew up in a supportive family and seeing Noah ignore his own children while instead he should have gone and supported them, talked them through, let them make their own decisions, was a truly alien concept. While I understand he had his own battles and was blinded by his heavenly mission, I just could not relate to him.
Other than the spectacular acting, I can also applaud some pretty original ideas presented by the directors. I adored the story of the Fallen Angels, I thought it was truly original and those were the characters I rooted the most for. It touched me seeing the heavenly beings punished for their compassion and thrown into mud literally. Also, I give the directors credit for answering the question on how the bloody hell did Noah feed all those animals? I was disappointed though, for the animals were never shown in detail, even though they were the most important beings on that ship. I would have liked to have seen more focus on the different species and animals, especially now that the technology truly allows to bring them to life. Also, the movie lacked what I was expecting the most - how the tragedy touched all those people who had lost their lives. In the end, the directors had doomed the entire world showing only the darkest of humans, as if Noah and his family were the only innocent ones. How about others? The babies? The children? I would have liked to see their stories, even if briefly. This was what I was expecting when I watched the movie but the directors ignored this all together.
Also, despite the stunning visuals and effects, I could not help but find certain scenes silly and funny instead of emotional or inspiring. I am not sure what went wrong with the movie in the end, but it was disappointing to me in everything except for a few performances pulled by great actors. If you think this movie will bring forth certain philosophical ideas or try to show how the Great Flood and God's decision to destroy the world had affected all humanity in general, you are wrong. You will only get a story of one man who is too blinded to come close to the true questioning of the Creator's or his own decisions.
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