Well, it is Easter Sunday. What better way to celebrate it than watching a film that revolves around Christ? There is a variety of ways that Hollywood has tried to adapt the stories from the Bible. Telling the tales from the Old and New Testament, each film tends to hone in on a different perspective for the stories to be told, as well as a specific message. If you are looking for a different tale surrounding the stories of Christ that might stray a little from the traditional biblical narrative, (no I am not referring to The Last Temptation of Christ) then might I refer you to 2016’s Risen. Written and directed by Kevin Reynolds, also known for helming popular films such as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Waterworld (1995), and The Count of Monte Cristo (2002), Risen tells the story surrounding the events of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection from the perspective of a Roman soldier named Clavius, played by Joseph Fiennes (yes, he is the brother of Ralph Fiennes). Clavius is hired by Pilate to oversee the crucifixion of Christ and to make sure that his tomb is guarded. We know early on in the film that Clavius has not been present during the life of Christ and has no idea why Christ is such an important figure. We even see him ask a bystander during the crucifixion what his name is, so it is made clear that he was hired merely to do a job and isn’t there because he is an antichrist or anything like that. When the body of Christ is reported to Pilate as stolen from the tomb, he is furious with Clavius and wants him to find the body. For the first half of the movie, we have a very intriguing and interesting premise.
The film proceeds by treating the situation as if it were a police chief (Pilate) hiring a seasoned and skilled detective (Clavius) to find a missing body. He goes around the city interviewing and interrogating people about what they know about Christ and who they know that might take his body. It really felt like I was watching a detective movie set in 33 A.D. Clavius even has a protégé named Lucius, played by Tom Felton who seems to be the “rookie cop” in the situation. This film was really bringing something to the table that felt fresh and original to a subject that has been explored in film hundreds, maybe thousands of times. Whether you are Christian or not, you didn’t really have a reason to hate Clavius. His character was in a grey area of not being a believer, while not persecuting those who believed. He was a man who was good at his job and was following orders. Unfortunately, the film tends to abandon the initial storyline about halfway through the film. I will be talking spoilers. You have been warned.
Long story short, the next half of the film is Clavius stumbling upon the 12 disciples and Christ, and ultimately decides to journey with them while he witnesses miracles and is converted. While that story in and of itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it completely ignores and changes the tone from where it started. It’s like Reynolds was trying to capture the best of both worlds in one film and it just doesn’t work; one world being detectives uncovering the mystery of a missing corpse, and the other being an uplifting faith-affirming Christian story. The two don’t mesh well together and left me unsatisfied to say the least. The film gains so much traction with the first premise and then screeches to a halt with the second. Generally, detectives wrap up the case at the end of the film and that’s that. This film wraps it up halfway through and the shift in tone and urgency turns it into a drag. I feel like Reynold’s would’ve been more successful prolonging the investigation for the entire runtime only to have it wrap up with Calvius finding Christ with the disciples. Then maybe doing a sequel about his conversion if he really wanted to tell that side of the story as well. It just would’ve made more sense this way because then we avoid the clashing of tones in the same film.
As for the production value, the film had a 20 million dollar budget and it shows. There were some good set pieces and an excellent war sequence at the beginning. However, I did get a “Lifetime movie” vibe throughout the film. There was a dream sequence that had awful CGI, and I felt like all of the side characters and extras had acting chops on par with a cheesy made-for-TV movie. The score also didn’t do the film any favors. While some aspects felt well done with high production value, it also makes it hard for you to remember that you’re not watching a Lifetime movie.
Overall, I think it is worth checking out if you are wanting to mix up the Easter story a little. I’m sure some people will appreciate the conversion part of the story but I feel like there are plenty of Christ-themed films that can tell that part of the story better than this film did. Joseph Fiennes did a great job and did help carry what was left of the story all the way home.
