Having seen very little about Risen before going to see the movie I am not sure of what this movie was supposed to be. The trailer I watched implied a missing Jesus body, and the hunt by those who do not believe to find him. I had gathered from this, that this was going to be a secular movie, with hints of Jesus, and his miracles. Instead it was pretty much a third person viewing of his miracles and left no mystery at all.
Maybe mystery is not the intent of these movies. We already have the mystery in the texts themselves, why do we need to make it more questionable in the movies we watch about Jesus. The Ten Commandments sure did not shroud it’s godly plagues from the viewers, nor the parting of the Red Sea. However with The Ten Commandments, those were spectacular special effects that were the most cutting edge of the time. The one’s in Risen are not spectacular at all with flashes of light and fadings. So we must review this movie as it was presented to us. A telling of Jesus’ death, rise from death, and ascent into heaven.
As a movie that tells this story it is slow, without peril or conflict, and is too known to be exciting or unexpected. The problem with the greatest story ever told is that it has been told a lot. How many ways can we crucify Jesus, or see his tomb, or see him rise, or see how sweet his hair looks. In Risen his hair is amazing. The acting is fine, and the sets are fine, and it is all just fine. A slow retelling that will not change your heart, your mind, or really make you see this in a different way than you already do.
