Before I went to see it, I decided to look up a few of reviews and found everything from "BEST MOVIE EVER!" to "Horrible as (insert worst thing here)" So I went, quite open minded because I knew that it may or may not be worth it.
The film opens with John as the narrator. I found it appropriate as he kind of leads us quickly through major events bringing us to Christ himself. The first half of the movie is dedicated to His ministry, and I had read reviews stating that they found this "boring" and many found it unscriptural. Let me pause here and expand on both of these.
Boring:
Not. Now, for someone who has never read the Bible, knows very little about Jesus and His work while He was here, may have found it hard to follow. And I think they did the best they could as far as a lot of walking and talking. I appreciated that they made Him very real. He touched people, He was personable. He would squat and get on eye-level with children and tickle their bellies. They did very well with keeping to the idea of His ministry.
Unscriptural:
Sorta. They took some liberties, they smushed some things together, and, for obvious reasons left a lot out. The overall message was clear, and they did not shy away from using strait scripture for some dialog/talks, although often it was the wrong person or time for a verse to be said.
My personal major issues with the unscriptural areas were not based on total Biblical support. Meaning, they had Mary Magdalene traveling with them, but scripture doesn't states that she did or didn't. I guess since this was left up to the imagination, they said she did. However, it did develop that deep love she so clearly had for Christ in the Bible as written. I was sad they did not include her perfume episode, as it would have been sweet after watching her love of Him (and the other followers) grow. They also did it well not to make any appearance of romance between her and Jesus. Other notes were the calling of Peter, the story of Nicodemus(again they interpreted this but there was no real Biblical evidence that how they did this was right or wrong.), and Lazarus's death and resurrection.
The way they chose to do somethings, I really appreciated. For example, the story of Judas's. They read between the lines, and added some emotion, and he wasn't just some heartless robot that hated Jesus. He in fact, wept when he was given the morsel of bread.
Something I noted that I was like "oh that's sad." Was that you only know a few of the disciples by name: Judas, Peter, John, and Thomas. You see Matthew get called to follow, but other than that, he just kind of blends into the background, and none of the others are ever called by name.
Although I have never seen the Passion of the Christ, this film may have been enough for me. I wept most of the way through the beating and crucifixion. And my favorite line came as Peter left the tomb, when John goes states in despair: "He's gone" but Peter radiantly proclaims: "No...HE'S BACK!"
The film, overall, was well done. Capturing the most important part of Christ: His love for all people, and His sacrifice for all mankind.
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