Noah [M]

The creation of Man has failed. The descendants of Cain poison the world with bloodlust and murder, whilst the dwindling descendents of Seth live peacefully, surviving on only what they need. Husband and father, Noah, is chosen by the Creator to undertake a mission of rescue before He sends an apocalyptic flood to destroy the world. Noah builds an ark to house two of every animal, as they have remained as God made them, but time is short and what happens when the ark doors threaten to close on other men?  

I went to see this solely for the fact that I was genuinely fascinated to see Darren Aronofsky attempt to make an epic: more importantly, a biblical epic. Remember, this is the man responsible for Requiem For a Dream and Black Swan amongst other dramas, so the intrigue is pretty self-explanatory. I wouldn’t say that I’m a huge fan of the movie, but it was actually done quite well and there were some really clever and captivating techniques that Aronofsky indulged in that sets it aside from action-esque biblical movies. 

The creation of Man has failed. The descendants of Cain poison the world with bloodlust and murder, whilst the dwindling descendents of Seth live peacefully, surviving on only what they need. Husband and father, Noah, is chosen by the Creator to undertake a mission of rescue before He sends an apocalyptic flood to destroy the world. Noah builds an ark to house two of every animal, as they have remained as God made them, but time is short and what happens when the ark doors threaten to close on other men?  

The story itself is pretty so-so. It was fascinating to see what happened on the ark during those forty days and nights and there is a great dramatic side story that happens: a struggle of logic vs. love and emotion, which was relatively engaging. For me, the real star of the show was the special effects. There were some really cool animations that skittered throughout the film indicating/depicting the passing of time, great distance, and all that jazz. I also like too that this is a biblical story, but there are some cheeky comments on evolution that makes their way in. Aronofsky definitely has a foot on both docks with this film, and it’s actually quite interesting how he comments on both. 

The performances are all pretty solid. I can’t bring myself to like Russell Crowe, it’s a problem that I have. He’s a brilliant actor and I’m happy to admit it, but I cannot bring myself to feel any sort of attachment to any character he plays and here I was just like, ‘huh ok Russell ok.’ 

I want to give a special shout out to Emma Watson who does a very good job at delivering a more dramatic performance. Emma does really, really well here. 

Starring Jennifer Connelly, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, Nick Nolte, Mark Margolis, Ray Winstone, and Anthony Hopkins, Noah is a pretty impressive film in a number of ways. Filled with action, mythology, romance, and drama, I found it engaging, but I’m not completely sold. I don’t think it will make it into the collection.