Noah

I have been looking forward to seeing Noah for several months and finally saw it last night. After watching it, I felt like I had been duped. I thought the trailer looked good, and I assumed it would follow the story of Noah from the Bible. The movie should have started by saying "inspired by the account of Noah."  I came away feeling like the writers and/or director were secretly trying to irritate believers.

Let me first say I was totally expecting Hollywood to take artistic liberties with the story but not to the extent they did. I've frequently heard people complain when a movie is made about a book they loved and it doesn't follow the story-line like it should. I now know how they feel.

I knew I was in trouble at the beginning of the movie when it showed areas of the earth men had destroyed and left desolate with tree stumps and small pools of polluted water. Right then my Spidey senses suspected a blatant environmentalist message coming, and the writers did not disappoint. 

I understand many people go to the movies just for entertainment's sake, and there are people who don't believe in God and think the stories in the Bible are mere fairy tales. Some of these people might think Christian critics are overreacting to the movie or are too critical. Perhaps I am but, if you are a Christian and believe the story of Noah, here is a list of doctrinal inconsistencies from this movie that may surprise or possibly offend you.

Warning! Spoilers follow!!

1. Methuselah appears to be more of a wizard than a prophetic patriarch. He helps Noah get answers from God by putting him into a drug-induced state so he can see a vision.

2. There are giant rock "angels" who look like mineral Transformers in this movie. They move and sound like the Ents from "Lord of the Rings." Apparently, they were fallen Angels who God cursed, and they ended up helping Noah build the ark. Who knew?

3. Men are evil in this movie and need to be destroyed, not so much because they are wicked, disobey God, and reject his prophets but because they eat animals and no longer take care of the earth.

4. Noah's sons don't have wives in this movie, and there is only one young woman (an adopted daughter) who boards the ship with them.

5. The king of the wicked men, Tubal Cain, is a stowaway on the ark and is aided by Noah's son Ham and nearly overthrows Noah.

6. Noah turns into a crazed man who is determined to kill the newborn twins of his son while on the ark, since he believes God wants the human race wiped out. He intends to let the animals repopulate and then he is to make sure the human race is extinguished as his family members eventually die off.

7. There was a short montage about the creation that showed the evolution process with animals and life forms progressing. Surprisingly, they later mention Adam and Eve were created in the Creator's image, and we didn't have to see them evolve from monkeys.

8. While there is reference to a creator, God is never mentioned in the movie.

I like all the actors in this movie, there were good special effects, and I was really looking forward to seeing Noah, but I came away let down. If I had to sum up my disappointment for this movie I would do so with the phrase "rock transformers". If you are looking for a sci-fi fantasy movie with no preconceived notions, I would give it 7 stars. If you want an account of Noah from the Bible, then I would give it 4.8 stars.