Son of God - Review

SON OF GOD is a pathetically rotten feature film, born not to re-showcase the life, death, and rebirth of Jesus Christ for modern audiences but to make Christian viewers pay for something they already got for free on television. In other words, it is a film designed by mega-producer Mark Barnett and his devilish cronies to replicate the disgusting economics of an iOS video game app. The movie is a simple cut-and-paste job of the Jesus episodes of the recent miniseries The Bible, with a few extra scenes added in to falsely distinguish itself as a new property. The makers were so lazy that they even kept in the fade ins and outs for commercial air-time. A few of the film's major low-points: the massive amount of pointless flashbacks, some of which re-show plot points that literally just happened a minute ago; CGI buildings that could have been better designed and filmed by a crew of practical model makers; a voiceover narration by John that is non-justifiable, since he's not focused on at all nor is he present during nearly all of the story; a fishing scene where the caught fish are clearly long past dead and are notably reused later during the altered view of The Feeding of 5,000; and subplots that have no reason to be present, such as how John the Baptist's execution causes Jesus to have a 3-second recollection. Diogo Morgado, the actor given the taunting task of playing Jesus, is so blasphemously smug, making the holy figure to appear as the vile threat the Pharisees see him as. But his one-dimensional emotions pale greatly when compared to producer/actress/diva Roma Downey, who gave herself the prime role of Mary. Layered in heavy make-up and often a distracting sore due to her pale whiteness, she ruins any pathos that could possibly be generated during the trial and crucifixion sequences. Not content enough to spoil the finale with her bad acting chops, Downey is again placed upfront during the end credits, where the Christmas jingle "Mary, Did You Know?" is played over a music video of her highlights. This film is supposed to be about Jesus (he's in the title, for God's sakes), not about the vain producer fronting the bill. The flock have already foolishly believed to themselves that this film is a righteous depiction of their Lord and Savior but, except for the desperate Sunday schoolteachers, they will eventually finally open their eyes and see it as the wretched creature it is.



FINAL REVIEW: 1 / 5