Movie Review: Noah (2014)

Noah 

Paramount Pictures, Regency Enterprises, Protozoa Pictures, Disruption Entertainment, USA, 2014.

Son of Adam and Eve, Cain kills his brother Abel and the fallen angels Watchers help his descendants to build industrial cities that destroy the nature. In only a few generations after Adam & Eve the humans have polluted the Earth. Descendants of Seth protect the remnants of Creation. Last Descendant of Seth, Noah witnesses the murder of his father. 

Many years later vegan Noah (Russell Crowe) has wife Naameh (Jennifer Connelly) and sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Noah forbids his sons from picking up flowers and eating meat. He also kills some hungry hunters. Noah gets a message from God who plans to destroy the world. Noah and his family travel through wasteland to meet grandfather Methuselah (Anthony Hopkins). On the way there they save a young girl Ila. Stone giants capture them. One of them Og (voiced by Frank Langella) helps them escape. He feels sorry because they taught humans to create but humans used the gift for evil purposes. 

Noah

Ham, Noah, Naameh and Japheth

Shem and Ila

Methuselah gives Noah some funny tea that helps him see more details about the God's plan. Noah must build an ark and save the animals. Years later Noah and the Watchers are building ark. Ila (Emma Watson) and Shem (Douglas Booth) are a couple but the other boys Ham (Logan Lerman) and Japheth (Leo McHugh Carroll) are single. Evil King Tubal-Cain (Ray Winstone) wants to destroy Noah and take the ark. Noah feels that the Creator wants only animals to survive the flood and also Noah's family must die. 

Methuselah

Watcher Og

Tubal-Cain

Although it is a biblical story the film could well be a post-apocalyptic scifi. It is not limited to the Bible story but takes also elements from apocryphal Book of Enoch. For a Darren Aranofsky film the first half is surprisingly main-stream with big fantasy battle-scenes. Still the plot is darker than in usual Hollywood Bible story. Stylistically there are some scenes that are loyal to his style (time-lapse animated map, river and cool evolutionary creation scene and Noah's montage visions). It takes liberties with the story omitting Ham's and Japheth's wives, adding the conflict of Tubal-Cain and Noah and various little things. Some inaccuracy and additions to the original stories and myths are always inevitable. Although the original story is short there are some cool stuff about flood in myths of different cultures that could have been utilized also.

The animals

Noah's Ark

However even the inclusion of stone Transformers are not as controversial as the inclusion of contemporary values unknown to the original ancient story. What is the most disturbing aspect is that it feels like vegan propaganda perfectly forgetting that Biblical Noah certainly was not a PETA-member: "Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar." Likewise it is neglected that Cain killed Abel because Cain became jealous when God liked Abel's animal sacrifice but rejected Cain's fruit offerings. Genesis 8:20. Aronofsky's artistic choice sure, but his black & white preaching negates the themes of the original flood story (after the flood God accepts that there is good and evil in humans, and gives humans permission to eat animals and makes a covenant with Noah and his descendants) and adds themes unknown to the original flood myths by pushing extreme environmentalist agenda. It also creates an oxymoron: if God is worried about environmental damage rather than other sins, how is destroying the whole world going to fix it?

Contrast of ecological Noah vs industrialist Tubal-cain takes a strange turn when the bad guy feels more humane than misanthropic ecofascist Noah. At one point Tubal-Cain's actions basically hinder Noah from murdering his own family. Some religious groups were shocked to see how much the Biblical Noah was changed. For a more balanced view of human vs nature conflict "Princess Mononoke" offered a better option, without neglecting either the environmental damage done by humans or the benefits of technology for example in health care.

Here's Johnny! I mean Noah!

Although professionally done and with good acting, it leaves a bitter aftertaste.

Rating: Good

Starring:  Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, Nick Nolte, Mark Margolis, Kevin Durand, Leo McHugh Carroll, Marton Csokas, Finn Wittrock, Madison Davenport, Gavin Casalegno, Nolan Gross, Skylar Burke, Dakota Goyo, Ariane Rinehart, Adam Griffith, Sophie Nyweide, Don Harvey, Sami Gayle, Barry Sloane, Arnoddur Magnus Danks, Vera Fried, Thor Kjartansson, Gregg Bello, Mellie Maissa Rei Campos, Oliver Lee Saunders, Frank Langella 

Director: Darren Aronofsky