This is almost exactly how I felt about the film, it was excellent in almost every fashion!
I burst into the room, the unmistakable cries of 200 small lizards are heard. (cue dramatic lightning)
If the film had chosen another subject matter to convey this message, I might've seen it. But trying to shoehorn this into the story of Noah's Ark just doesn't make sense, and seems pretty disrespectful to the religions that believe in the actual event. It seems like rather than trying to promote the original message of the story, the writers are forcing in their own. And if that's the case, why bother with Noah's Ark in the first place? Plus, if that is the message of the film, the obvious answer is 'Yes, humanity is worth saving, because (forgive me if I spell these wrong) Yahwe/God/Allah/etc. wouldn't be trying to if it weren't.' I'm incredibly dissapointed with the idea of this film, and I hope religious films will stay true to their source material, because that's what they should be doing.
I'm a geek.
From what I've heard Aronofsky is fascinated with the story of Noah and the philosophies and ideas surrounding that moment and wanted to share the ideas it raised in his head.
That seems like a very valid reason to make a film. And it's not like there's one 'correct' religious interpretation of the story of Noah either, in the broader sense the why's and what it means have lots of angles but even in the literal sense you have every opinion from the world being magical, to it being about that thing where the middle east floods every now and then, to it just being a story.
Even if that weren't true, as a christian I'm not offended when people create things like this, I'm excited. These stories are meant to be engaged with. Whatever you believe about them, God wasn't getting them into his book for the look of the thing, they contain ideas, they have meanings they're there to be thought about. As long as the person doing the thinking doesn't say 'what I think is right and you guys are stupid for not believing it too,' it's not offensive. And the story of Noah is hugely significant and it is worth thinking about and putting down those thoughts in words and film
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Is Mankind worth saving?
As a Deist of sorts and a huge fan of Aronofsky's previous films, I had very mixed feelings coming into this movie, wondering how it could possibly work, but I tried not to let that cloud my judgement while I was watching. Fortunately, Darren Aronofsky succeeded marvelously in bringing the timeless tale of the death and rebirth of the world to life.
I could talk for hours about the themes the film deals with and the questions it poses: Is mankind worth saving? Are we, burdened as we are with self-awareness and free will, doomed to make a mess of the world we have found ourselves in?
Noah (the movie) did so many things right when they could just as easily have gone horribly wrong. It did not shy away from depicting the wretchedness of the descendants of Cain, nor did it gloss over their total demise in the Deluge. The screams that Noah's family heard, and the scene of the people desperately climbing up the crags of rock that had not yet been submerged are still haunting me, even as I write this review hours after having seen it.
Surprisingly enough, the most engaging scene for me was Noah's narration of the Creation story, told over a cinematic depiction of the actual scientific understanding of the universe's origin... including evolution! Then we cut to the legendary progenitors of humans as self-aware, cultural beings (Adam and Eve) who chose to defy God and separate themselves from the natural order of things, and to Cain, the symbolic progenitor of murder. The juxtaposition of Cain murdering Abel with the silhouettes of dozens of war-fighters throughout history was utterly chilling.
Aronofsky has a way of bringing out the best possible performances from his actors, and this is the first time I've seen such high-caliber acting on Russel Crowe's part in years. Crowe's Noah is both sympathetic and frightening, and Jennifer Connelly and Emma Watson are also amazing as his wife Naameh and adopted daughter Ila, respectively. Anthony Hopkins, one of my favorite actors, is also excellent, but his part is relatively small.
This is a monumental, moving film that should be seen by believers and non-believers alike.