A pastor's perspective - The Passion of the Christ Reviews

I have been following the making and promoting of this film with much interest for over a year. As an Assemblies of God pastor I was certainly curious as to how Mr. Gibson would handle this topic of the crucifixion of Christ. So today, the day of the film's release, I ordered my tickets on Fandango and rushed to see the 12:20 showing. Though I think I need some time to properly digest what I saw, and perhaps I need to see it again, here is my reviewed. From the first scene I was impressed with the cinematography. We see a close-up of the moon, high above the clouds, and then swoop quickly downward to a very foggy Gethsemane where Jesus is praying. Another wonderful shot is when Jesus is writing in the dirt with his finger. And perhaps the most spectacular shot of the film is after Jesus dies, we follow a rain drop as it falls from high overhead and crashes on the rocky ground. The movie is visually stunning throughout. The acting was excellent without being melodramatic, a difficult task I'm sure given the dark tone of most of the film. Now, for the story itself. This is where I had a few complaints. The first being, why not stick to the story without adding to it? I had read that Mel Gibson desired to produced a historically accurate film, which I believe he did for the most part, so why the need to add filler? Some examples... a crowd of demonic children drive Judas toward his death. The mocking thief on the cross has one of his eyes pecked out by a bird. Pilate's wife gives Mary a stack of towels that she later uses to wipe up Jesus' blood. I thought some of these extras took away from the reality of the story. But on the whole, I think the script did a good job at telling a very difficult story, and the use of flashbacks to show the purpose of Christ's death were effective. And the resurrection scene, though subtle, was extremely powerful. I wanted to stand up and cheer, but many people were still crying so I thought it inappropriate. So there it is. A wonderfully made film that is mostly true to the scriptures, is powerful in its message of God's sacrificial love, yet still leaves you with the hope and joy of the risen Christ. Hopefully, like other great movies, it will make people want to read the Book!