Film Honest
There will be many many better films than Noah but there will be few as worth remembering.
There's a lot of cruft, it might be too long, strangely shot with weird adaptation decisions.
But none of it matters, it does exactly what a Noah story needs to do. It shows you the worst of humanity, how we can tear apart the earth and each other and then it shows you exactly how awful the flood is. It doesn't pretend there were no other children in the Earth. It gives it to you in real terms, the film doesn't lie to you to make anything easier.
And that's it. You can regret it or hate it or whatever any other appropriate reaction is.
EDIT: The film isn't however honest in it's content. Maybe as much as 80% of events in the film aren't in the original story. Whats included is included to enhance the feel and emotional impact of the ideas around the flood, but before you write off Noah as a literal attempted baby-killer it might be a good idea to check out the real story. It's only about 3 pages long
Film 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.
Film Good, but not without its problems
There's a lot of good stuff in Noah. Most of the actors give strong performances, the atmosphere is perfectly set up, and the story is is a an excellent if not entirely faithful adaptation of the Biblical tale. I especially liked the angle of Noah going Nietzsche Wannabe and being convinced that all of mankind is doomed, even he and his family, and his subsequent stint as Villain Protagonist.
Emma Watson as Ila and Ray Winstone as Tubal Cain are particularly compelling in this film. Watson brilliantly portrays the cocktail of emotions that come with her situation (a barren girl in an Adam and Eve Plot), and really sells those heavy emotional scenes that could have slipped into narm very quickly. Winstone, meanwhile, portrays a villain whom you can empathize with but not sympathize, and who you can still root against; you can completely understand where he's coming from, but his goals are dastardly and cannot be cast as Well-Intentioned Extremist or anything like that. This is not something easy to accomplish. Out of all the performers in this movie, I'd say Winstone's performance stuck with me the most.
Crowe, however...doesn't shine here. He's bland as white toast for the first half of the film; there's hardly any emotion or effort put into his lines. Even when he goes batshit insane, he still doesn't seem like he's buying his own character. Admittedly, his character wasn't well written either, so that may have something to do with it.
This movie also witnesses the return of the dreaded Shaky Cam. It is never welcome in this movie. Not once, not even during the chaotic scenes, because it makes it impossible to see the chaos. And there are poorly shot, seizure-inducing timelapse scenes that show what they need to show, but while giving the viewer nausea on the way, which is entirely avoidable. And barring the Watchers, the CGI is awful. The "dog" at the beginning of the movie is glaring, and it goes downhill from there; the animals, the sudden growing forest, the corpses and dying people on the rock, all of it is just incredibly obvious and it distracts from the main action. And this is from a guy who normally doesn't object to CGI.
Overall, this movie earns a B-. Go see it, and enjoy what it has to offer — it has a lot.