The most powerful movie ever experienced - The Passion of the Christ Reviews

A Masterpiece of filmmaking and what movies were meant to do; The Passion tells a story, historically accurate and profound. A story read by many, pondered on by fewer and believed by even fewer still, the Passion does what no other form of media is capable of doing; it draws all the senses together and let?s you feel the story of the Gospels. Like all movies that are based on a true story, it goes out on a limb in a few places to fill in the gaps, where books are free to be ambiguous but movies are not. Yet those places are few and far between and in my opinion actually fit the story quite well. We may never know in this lifetime whether the fill-ins are accurate, but I see no greater harm being done then when believers speculate in private as to ?this or that?. A professional ?critic? Ty Burr, of the Boston Globe, stated that the movie was too much focused on gore and not theology and A.O. Scott, of the New York Times, stated that the film seems to arise less from love than from wrath; to which I have to say I?ll never read the reviews of these men again. I make this statement confidently, since I, as an occasional moviegoer was able to find what they somehow missed. It?s not as though I am the only one, at the time of this writing eleven reviews with an average of ?A? have been written by the professionals; all but these two are rated high. Therefore I am more inclined to believe that ulterior motives are behind the negative remarks and I find that very unprofessional. A closer look at the criticisms reveals the impractical and unwarranted nature of the attacks. To say that the film lacks theology demands a comparative, that is to say, compared to what? Certainly not your average film, I don?t know of too many films that are rich in theology. Comparing the film to other Christian movies, such as the famous one by Charlton Heston, is not comparing apples to apples, in the sense that you expect the Mel Gibson film to be more a dramatic experience than a dry narrative. Don?t get me wrong the movies of the past are great in their own respect, but the most dramatic they ever attempt to get is voice inflection, when Charlton lowers his voice and says ?Let my people go?. It?s the difference between the Discovery Channel?s special on the Holocaust and Schindler?s list ? both are valuable and both need to be graded based on their own genre. What is surprising is that the movie maintains such a large degree of historical accuracy, not that it is lacking in any or lacking a theological lecture; something the movie was never intended to be. To the charge of a lack of love, I am awestruck. The love that the man Jesus shows is exactly what Christians have maintained for over two millennia. It is the story of a man, wrongly and falsely condemned who shows compassion for those ?who do not know what they are doing? and who even a sinner dying besides the man Jesus, recognizes as not worthy the punishment but ?praying for you? in the midst of the horrible torture. ?No greater love has a man, than this?? cannot be escaped as you watch the film. Truly a most horrible oversight by a self proclaimed ?professional?. All having been said, I am a better person for having watched this movie. Paul Harvey said it best when he said: ?You don?t watch this movie, you experience it!? Perhaps it is due to our multi-media culture, that I have grown up in, or an overall dumbing down of the populace ? but I don?t seem to be able to create the drama of the film in my mind, when I read a book or listen to a tape. Some people have been blessed with that ability, but not I. For me then, the movie does what no other form of media can, and with the small discrepancies and conjecture on the part of the movie and director aside, I am thankful and proud to recommend Gibson?s work.