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Modern take on Noah and the story of the Ark — meaning some good video game violence, nondescript references to a “Creator,” and an evolutionary spin on life. The Bible has little enough to say about Noah, but Aronofsky and crew rewrite the story anyway, turning God into a riddle-master and Noah (Russell Crowe) into a conflicted angel of vengeance who ultimately clashes with his own sons. Some good ideas along the way, though, particularly having to do with the building of the Ark and the manner in which it is populated with birds, beasts, and creeping things. Several Watchers — fallen angels who, in this version, are rock-encrusted giants — help Noah with his project. Tubal-cain, leading an army of evildoers (that’s us, antediluvian style), provides an external threat. Crowe is a grave and formidable Noah and Anthony Hopkins has an amusing turn as a berry-craving Methuselah. Enjoyable, but as a magical action movie, not a Biblical epic.
Modern take on Noah and the story of the Ark — meaning some good video game violence, nondescript references to a “Creator,” and an evolutionary spin on life. The Bible has little enough to say about Noah, but Aronofsky and crew rewrite the story anyway, turning God into a riddle-master and Noah (Russell Crowe) into a conflicted angel of vengeance who ultimately clashes with his own sons. Some good ideas along the way, though, particularly having to do with the building of the Ark and the manner in which it is populated with birds, beasts, and creeping things. Several Watchers — fallen angels who, in this version, are rock-encrusted giants — help Noah with his project. Tubal-cain, leading an army of evildoers (that’s us, antediluvian style), provides an external threat. Crowe is a grave and formidable Noah and Anthony Hopkins has an amusing turn as a berry-craving Methuselah. Enjoyable, but as a magical action movie, not a Biblical epic.