Noah

Darren Aronofsky is a very good, and frequently great, filmmaker.  But I think his take on the story of Noah misses the mark by a wide margin.  It's a big budget misfire filled with elements that just don't work, like epic Lord of the Rings-style battle sequences, giant CG monsters, and special effects that more bring to mind a video game, rather than a Biblical epic.  To be fair, the movie's been made with some skill, and features some good turns by a talented cast.  But the script by Aronofsky and Ari Handel brings down any positives the film may muster.

And yet, I found myself deeply intrigued by the film's depiction of Noah.  As played by Russell Crowe, Noah comes across as a warrior, who often feels that mankind is not worthy of saving.  When he gets the message from God (called "The Creator" in this film) to build the Ark and of the impending flood, he views it as the world being purged of humans.  They are not meant to repopulate the world, and the Earth must return to a natural state.  When it is revealed that his adopted daughter, Ila (Emma Watson) has become pregnant, he does not know how to react, and is torn between mercy and violence.  The film has already triggered a lot of controversy with its depiction of Noah and the story.  And while I can certainly see the point of the criticisms, I none the less found it to be a fascinating interpretation, and Crowe's performance to be compelling as a man torn between violence and mercy, even toward his own family at times.

Noah is the descendant of Seth, while Cain's descendants built massive cities that have ravaged and destroyed the land.  Early on, Noah receives a vision of the impending cleansing of the Earth and all mankind.  He seeks the guidance of his grandfather, Methuselah (Anthony Hopkins), who resides in a nearby cave, dreaming of the taste of fresh berries.  During his time in the cave, he has another vision where he learns that he must build a massive Ark, and carry two of every animal on board during the impending flood that will wipe away all the wickedness in the land.  When the evil king, and descendant of Cain, Tubal-cain (Ray Winstone) hears of Noah's plan, he gathers an army and plans to take the Ark by force.  Fortunately, Noah will be protected in his mission by the Watchers, fallen angels from heaven who now take the form of towering rock monsters whose design seems more than a little bit inspired by Michael Bay's Transformers films, only they're made of stone instead of scrap metal.

Noah is also aided by his family, which includes his wife (Jennifer Connelly), three sons, and the previously mentioned Ila, whom he rescued and adopted when she was a child.  The movie desperately tries to create some drama and tension within the family, but like a lot of things in this movie, it doesn't work as well as it should.  Noah is a rigid man in his beliefs.  He believes that the family's task is simply to protect the animals, and return them to their rightful place in nature after this is all over.  There is no room for repopulation in his plan.  However, when Ila does become pregnant by one of his sons (and some magic from Methuselah), some tensions obviously arise, as the father and son argue over the fate of the children.  We keep on waiting for the film to pick up on this dramatic angle, and while it keeps on hitting upon it, it never takes off and truly grabs hold.  A large part of this has to do with the fact that Noah's family feel underwritten, and often don't participate in the story, unless the script deems it necessary.

There is a great moment late in the film when Noah's wife finally confronts her husband about his behavior, and how she does not think she can tolerate it much longer.  Not only is this Connelly's best scene in the film, it's one of the few times her character gets to truly come alive, so we can't blame her for taking advantage of it.  In Noah, we sometimes get a standout scene for one of the supporting characters, making us think the script is finally ready to let them step forward, only to have it pull back almost immediately.  There's a subplot about one of Noah's son's slowly being seduced by the evil Tubal-cain, who has stowed away on the Ark.  This too never really goes anywhere.  And what about those giant rock monsters that help Noah construct the Ark itself?  Once they're introduced, they're pretty much pushed to the background, forced to look like expensive special effects that really serve no purpose.

While there are moments and individual performances that do stand out, this is an endlessly frustrating movie overall.  The decision to add big, epic war scenes against an army determined to overtake the Ark for themselves comes across as a desperate act to drag out a movie that didn't need to be any longer, as it already runs nearly two and a half hours as is.  The movie is stuffed with spectacle and CG images, but more often than not, it distracts rather than adds to the story.  If Aronofsky wanted to make an environmental-based fantasy epic, maybe he should have come up with his own idea.  These added elements of fantasy, war, and sorcery feel shoehorned in to the original story, and sometimes don't even feel natural in the narrative.  This is a big, lumbering and odd movie that has some moments where you get to see the director's true intentions, but they are surrounded by a lot of spectacle and empty characters that simply don't engage.

I have no doubt that Aronofsky's career will survive this film, and he will get to do a great film again someday.  This almost feels like a big studio production that got out of control, and he just didn't know how to reign it back in.  Noah gives us an interesting jumping point for a unique look at the classic story, but then it goes wrong pretty much every step after that.

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