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Noah Movie Review

Noah is a 2014 epic biblical drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly and Emma Watson. It is a highly underrated gem.

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“We have been entrusted with a task

much greater than our own desires“

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God chooses Noah to undertake a mission of rescuing various animal species from a disastrous flood. With the help of the Watchers, Noah along with his family builds an ark to protect life on Earth. This is a very difficult movie to discuss, but first I have to say that I will be viewing it from an atheist’s perspective as I am one myself. I do realize that this film might prove to be too problematic for people of faith, but it was made by an atheist after all and I will view it as such.

The Bible has always been fascinating to me. It can be read as a teaching material about ethics and morals. It can be viewed as an account of real human history, but it also very much has that epic, fantastical feel to it, which is what this movie mostly approached and evoked. Watching it in the realm of pure fantasy, it ranks among the best and most dazzling movies of its decade.

The cosmic element in the first act was quite fascinating. The environmental messaging also worked in the context of this story that is all about saving people and animals on this mythic arc after all. This is evidently a repurposed story from a leftist, atheist filmmaker, but this is the 21^st century, so it’s only fitting to modernize this source material for the big screen and I would much rather have these epics be brought in this fashion than not have them at all.

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The fantastical elements fully worked with the historical stuff feeling somewhat sidelined and problematic, but what this movie excels at is the human drama behind this story. Humanizing Noah and his family was a terrific choice from Aronofsky that really paid off and made me care about this story much more than I otherwise would.

Noah’s complex relationship with his “Creator” is powerfully explored and what he thinks he has to do and how he grapples with it in the second half made for such a compelling, character-rich drama. The psychological nature of the third act made it intense and provocative. Russell Crowe embodied the character fully, delivering some of his career-best work in this layered, phenomenal and highly underappreciated performance.

But others also delivered. Logan Lerman was fine in a lesser role and Anthony Hopkins was typecast, but memorable. Jennifer Connelly and Emma Watson did not get the richest roles as they were basically asked to be in anguish and cry a lot, but both actresses still elevated their roles significantly with powerhouse performances.

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Noah is a technically arresting achievement in filmmaking. This is an epic that is very long, but it hardly feels like it given its engaging narrative and solid pacing. Structurally and in terms of themes and ideas, it’s too complex and somewhat jumbled, but the ambitiousness behind this project is worth the admiration. The cinematography is stunning and some of the imagery was quite epic, but the score was so rousing that it made for a true spectacle. The directing from Aronofsky is also strong, though the VFX work done on this movie was messy.