I first heard about this movie when I saw a poster for it on the wall of my local movie theater back in November of 2015. I instantly took interest in this film because of the angle it's approaching the Resurrection of Christ from, which is the perspective of the Roman soldiers. What really caught my eye with this film is hearing that the filmmakers intended for this movie to be a direct sequel to Mel Gibson's The Passion Of The Christ since that movie ended with the audience seeing Christ resurrect and walk out of the tomb. That made me very anxious to see this film as I greatly enjoyed Mel Gibson's Biblical epic, and still consider it to be one of the greatest and most moving cinema experiences the Cinema ever had. The hype behind that films release was insane, and I knew going into this one that it was not going to be duplicated. Still, the idea that the filmmakers intended for this movie to be a sequel to The Passion Of The Christ, shows that they were thinking about more things than just the money but also knew where the bar was set and made some kind of attempt to meet it. Gibson's film regardless of how people feel about the filmmaker in reality was made with a labor of passion and love for the subject matter. Going into Risen, I was hoping for the exact same thing from these filmmakers. Did these filmmakers deliver on their promise of this being an effective sequel to Passion, and does it have the same kind of impact of that film? The most appropriate answer is not exactly but it wasn't a total letdown either.
Risen can best be described as a movie with good intentions and an intent to become something that can be viewed upon as being meaningful to the audience watching the film, The film does feel like it tries to match up with passion as some of the key actors in this movie look like the one's playing the same kind of characters from Mel Gibson's film such as the actors playing Jesus, Pontius Pilate, and Mary Magdeleine. The story takes place in 33 AD where a Roman Tribune named Clavius is tasked by Pontius Pilate to find the missing body of Christ when rumors began to surface that he rose from the dead. The whole central focus of this film is on Clavius played by Joseph Fiennes and his right hand man Lucius played by Tom Felton, as they do their investigating and trying to make sense of the situation presented to them. Clavius from the start clearly doesn't believe in any of the stories about Christ's miracles and feels that his followers are touched in the head, but as the film develops, he begins to question for himself the loyalty of Christ's followers who would give their life for believing in him. The true power of the movie kicks in when Clavius discovers for himself the truth behind the crucifixion and resurrection, and becomes a believer himself. Joseph Fiennes gives a fairly restraint performance but brings a likeability to the role that makes the audience connect with his character. The idea that the story unfolds in the eyes of a nonbeliever but ends with him becoming a follower of Christ is a story that's both unique and worth telling, especially if it's from the side of the Roman soldiers. Risen may very well be one of the best Biblical films since The Passion Of The Christ as this movie is much lighter in tone and straight-forward than many faith-based films since 2004. It's greatest strength is it's story which takes The Greatest Story Ever Told and puts an interesting spin on it as the aftermath of the Resurrection has never been quite told before on the big screen like this. It also helps that this movie has strong production values such as the Art-Set Decoration, and Costume Design, something that really made Mel Gibson's movie standout as being visually striking. The score is strong as well and the film moves at a steady pace pulling you into it's story while ending it at a point where you're left reflecting on the concept at hand. The best analogy for Risen, is that it often feels like a police drama that doesn't feel heavy handed with it's Christian message, and is accompanied by terrific production values.
With all the pros of this film, there is also some negative side effects to the film such as some of the acting coming off as being poor by some of the supporting characters in this movie such as the disciple Peter played by Steward Scudamore and Mary Magdeleine played by Maria Botto.. The acting by a lot of the minor character's isn't as effective as it could be While one certainly feels that there was a good amount of effort that went into this film and great care taken with the story, it's not on the kind of level that Mel Gibson brought towards The Passion Of The Christ. Passion was acted to perfection, looked gorgeous, had great technical traits, and left an impression on moviegoers long after exiting the theater. The film also garnered three Academy Award nominations for Best Music, Cinematography, and Makeup. It still remains the most successful R rated film in box office history domestically, giving further proof that Gibson more than exceeded what he set out to do with that story. That should be the barrier for any religious film going forward since it's release to have that kind of impact on pop culture. Risen is not going to be the film that does that but it's no failure either. One just wishes that more passion and flare went into this project than what we see on the screen to leave a bigger impact with audiences.
Overall, Risen is worth watching if you are familiar with the story of Christ and want to see the story of his Resurrection told from a different angle than what's typically shown in past films. If you are a non believer going into this film, you may appreciate it as a piece of filmmaking but be left cold by it's intended message as this film works better for those who know about the story going in. Risen's message is that Christ's death and Resurrection changed the lives of so many under Roman rule during that 40 day period after the Resurrection. One wishes that the filmmakers went more in depth with the life changing experience that many of Christ's followers experienced after the crucifixion. Much like the 1953 Richard Burton film titled The Robe, this movie takes similar inspiration in showing a Roman Tribune going from a nonbeliever into a believer through the power of remorse, regret, and ultimately having faith. Telling the story from the side of the romans was a great idea and the film does feel like it could be watched after The Passion Of The Christ, but one also feels after watching it that it could've been so much closer to that film in terms of overall impact.
7 /10
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