Hey all! The promised post is finally here. Today, I will give a review for the recently released Christian film, God’s Not Dead. This is my first time writing and publishing a movie review, so I hope you enjoy it. If you have any thoughts on the movie, or suggestions for future reviews, please leave a comment. And if you haven’t seen the movie yet, don’t worry. I’ll stay spoiler free!
God’s Not Dead is a movie about….well, a lot of things, actually. Though the main storyline is about a Christian college student standing up to his aggressively atheist professor, there are quite a few subplots, some of which I found even more compelling. It takes most of the movie before we start to see these plots come together, and the way they all tied together in the end was a bit weak in my opinion. However, in these scattered anecdotes, there is some very strong, moving storytelling. I felt an emotional attachment to certain characters, cared about what happened to them, and was surprised by a plot twist at the end.
The characters of this movie are pretty black and white. In general, you can tell which people are the good guys, and which are the bad guys. This is not necessarily detrimental to the story, though, and most of them are written and acted genuinely.
Theme is most definitely the core aspect of the story. There is heavy-handed Christian and apologetic content- which fits into the stories which were being told. The movie does not try to conceal its message. At all. The title is the thematic statement: God’s Not Dead. I didn’t notice too much deep, underlying symbolism, but meaning was not at all lacking. One minor element I thought may have detracted from the message was the occasional relativisation of truth-claims in the dialogue. For example, one of the characters made the statement, “to me, God’s not dead”. That seemed to push the idea of God’s existence into a relativistic domain. However, this only happened a few times, and I’m certain it wasn’t intentional. The writer(s?) wove in a few literary references, which I would not have personally brought up because of their own themes, but they seemed to fit the worldview of the characters who mentioned them. ( Of course, I try not to think about The Grapes of Wrath at all, much less mention it in my stories.) The production quality is the highest I’ve seen in a Christian movie probably since the film Soul Surfer came out. Music was used well, and the few special effects that were needed were believable.
Overall, I don’t think God’s Not Dead is a groundbreaking movie. I do think it is a good movie. I came into the theatre expecting to be disappointed, and came out pleasantly surprised. I had a good time watching it. I’d recommend the film to anyone who wants to enjoy a well-made, Christian worldview film, and support similar endeavors in the future. That, I think, is the most exciting part of God’s Not Dead. It’s a sign that more and better things are ahead for Christian cinema (like maybe a sci-fi movie? Maybe? Perhaps I should learn how to write screenplays…).
Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora
Here is a bonus, super-fast review!
My least favorite part of the movie: No one mentioned subatomic particles! They got so close, so many times, but they never did mention them. Alright, in seriousness, my least favorite part was the excess of break-up scenes.
My favorite part of the movie: There was a twist at the end that I actually wasn’t expecting. Some people I went to the movies with said they saw it coming, but I did not. It can be really fun to be caught off guard in stories. Also, the reporter girl’s subplot was touching, and it was cool to see cameo appearances from the show Duck Dynasty.
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