Going into the theatres to watch the movie “Noah,” I found myself asking what the controversy about the movie was all about. It seems like Biblical movies are being produced a lot this year but the question is whether or not the stories correspond with what is written in the Bible. The movie starts with young Noah losing his father. In the next scene, Noah has grown into a man with two sons, Shem and Ham, and a pregnant wife named Naameh (Jennifer Connelly).
Some parts of the story were correct. For example, it starts with the rise and fall of Adam and Eve, a story that explains original sin. Then it goes on to show the three sons of Adam and Eve: Cain, Abel and Seth. The movie is accurate in portraying the distrust and hatred between Cain and Abel. This hatred leads to the death of Abel and the banishment of Cain to the east. Then it introduces Noah as the last line of Seth’s descendants.
This is where the story then begins to get fuzzy because it starts introducing sci-fi like creations called the Watchers. The Watchers are fallen angels that were sent from “the Creator” to protect mankind. These Watchers didn’t even look close enough to being real; one could tell that they were animated by the way they walked, talked and even looked. For some reason, as I was watching the movie, I couldn’t help but think of the voice of one of the Transformers when the Watchers spoke to Noah and his family.
Despite the movie being hard to follow, I didn’t like how the characters were portrayed. Noah’s son, Ham, came off as a whiny little boy who seems unnecessarily needy. Every time Noah would give an order, Ham always responded asking why. In a scene in the movie, Ham is seen asking for a wife and when Noah declares that he will not be looking for any wives for his sons because there is evil everywhere, Ham flees and leaves the ark. It wasn’t just Ham; Shem and Il-la, Noah’s adopted daughter, are seen as incestuous vixens just looking for an opportunity to be alone. For example, after Ham runs away Il-la goes looking for him. After a couple hours pass and Noah starts getting worried, he sends Shem after the both of them. Shem finds Il-la and instead of pressing forward to look for Ham, Il-la and Shem spend some time fornicating in the woods.
Last but not least, I didn’t like how they made “the Creator” sound. They make him sound like a merciless being. For example, Noah is so blinded by trying to please the Creator that he goes irrational. After seeing how evil people are, he realizes that he and his family have evil tendencies and therefore have no reason to live. Noah says that there is nothing that his wife wouldn’t do for her children, Shem is jealous and Ham is petty, and Japheth, the last son, will be the last line of Noah.
Other than that, the movie was fair and so was the music. I love Russell Crowe and Emma Watson but I would not recommend this movie.