REVIEW: Risen

Courtesy of Sony
A few months back, I discussed my concerns with some Christian-themed movies that hit multiplexes in the last few years. I won’t derail this week’s column by repeating my entire argument, but I basically said it frustrates me that films like God’s Not Dead and War Room aren’t interested in realistic characters or telling stories in unique, creative ways. Instead, the filmmakers are content to preach to the converted. Quite literally, in some cases – they begin with a sermon they want to deliver and reverse-engineer a thin plot around it.

The result is usually a collection of tired platitudes couched in churchy buzzwords that viewers only understand if they grew up in Sunday school. For other moviegoers, it can feel like they accidentally crashed a party they weren’t invited to. I took some heat for those comments, but I stand by them.

In fact, I believe them even more now that I’ve seen Risen. It’s like director Kevin Reynolds (who co-wrote the screenplay with Paul Aiello) has been spying on my conversations. This refreshing new spin on the wonder surrounding Jesus' resurrection proves there are still imaginative, entertaining ways to convey an ancient story while engaging believers and secular audiences alike.

Often, films about Jesus’ life frame the narrative from the disciples’ perspective, or perhaps someone on the receiving end of one of his miracles. (Again, preaching to the choir.) That’s not the case with Risen. Instead, viewers see the familiar tale through the eyes of Clavius (Joseph Fiennes), a Roman military officer who takes delight in suppressing the recent surge of religious zealots raving about their Messiah (Cliff Curtis).

After Pilate (Peter Firth) has the troublemaker – known as Yeshua – crucified, he orders Clavius and his young aide Lucius (Tom Felton) to ensure that the tomb stays sealed. Pilate is worried about Yeshua’s followers stealing the body in order to perpetuate the prophecy that he would rise from the dead after three days.

Sure enough, the tomb is soon empty and rumors begin to fly about the Messiah’s return. Clavius, humiliated that this happened on his watch, vows to track down Yeshua’s body and punish the people who made him look foolish. Over the course of his journey, viewers get to imagine what this astonishing period must’ve been like for someone who once viewed Jesus and his disciples as dangerous, raving lunatics.

Granted, Risen is basically a real version of the fake movie prominently featured in Hail, Caesar! (a funny bit of coincidental scheduling, I’m sure), but I was impressed and relieved that Reynolds and Aiello weren’t interested in just reenacting the same scenes we’ve watched in Jesus movies for decades. Instead, they manage to modernize a narrative that often comes across as stale or inaccessible to contemporary audiences.

Fiennes, in an unexpectedly shrewd performance, plays Clavius as a proto-detective investigating the disappearance of a prominent criminal. Of course he sees himself as one of the good guys; he’s Pilate’s right-hand man. That’s why the character’s inevitable transformation works as well as it does. (If anyone thinks that’s a spoiler, they’ve never seen a movie before.) The film is basically an episode of Law and Order: Jerusalem with some Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead thrown in.

Felton is also good in a fairly thankless role, playing a by-the-book rookie who just wants to please his boss. Lucius is technically one of the bad guys, but Felton plays him with such straightforward resolve that you can’t help but see where he’s coming from. (Brief nerd tangent: I definitely chuckled when I realized Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter movies was playing someone named Lucius and standing next to Voldemort’s brother.)

We get to know a couple of Jesus’ disciples – mostly the wise, cantankerous Peter (Stewart Scudamore) and Bartholomew (Stephen Hagan), who comes off as an early-A.D. surfer dude – but the other nine (we don’t meet Judas, considering he’s removed himself from the narrative at this point) are nameless tag-alongs with zero personality. They’re basically a smaller band of the 47 dwarves that accompanied Bilbo Baggins on his boring, never-ending journey in The Hobbit.

Curtis only has a few scenes as Yeshua (I thought it was an interesting historical touch that no one in the movie ever calls him Jesus), but he makes them count. His warm, accessible version of the Messiah – not the aloof, unknowable figure we’ve seen in other movies – makes you understand why these guys would uproot their entire lives to follow him. I also appreciated that Curtis, while from New Zealand, bears a closer resemblance to what historians think Jesus actually looked like than the blond-haired, blue-eyed Jesus depicted in media for so long.

The only real missteps are Firth as Pilate – he seems to be in a much campier movie than everyone else – and an inexplicable dream sequence that sticks out due to some cheap, terrible CGI. It doesn’t add anything to the narrative and could’ve been cut to the film’s benefit.

While Risen absolutely treats Jesus and his teachings with respect, it doesn’t put the characters on a self-serious pedestal that prevents the audience from relating to them. It even (gasp!) dares to use a bit of humor to convey its message. As such, it succeeds far better than its predecessors in the Christian genre at presenting an uplifting story that church folks and general moviegoers can both enjoy.

Risen is rated PG-13 for biblical violence including some disturbing images.

Grade: B


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