Risen

Biblical films are definitely on the rise as we've seen in recent past. With the likes of "The Son of God", "Noah", and more modern, but biblically based films like "Courageous", "Fireproof", God's Not Dead" and "War Room", it's apparent that we have not seen the last of these films, which is surely why "Risen" will be as appealing to audiences as the aforementioned films.

This follows the epic biblical story of the Resurrection, as told through the eyes of a non- believer, Clavius (Joseph Fiennes), a powerful Roman Military Tribune, and his aide Lucius (Tom Felton). They are tasked by Pontius Pilate (Peter Firth) with solving the mystery of what happened to Yeshua or Jesus Christ (Cliff Curtis) in the weeks following the crucifixion, in order to disprove the rumors of a risen Messiah and prevent an uprising in Jerusalem by locating the crucified body of Jesus Christ. But Clavius soon undergoes a crisis of faith when he witnesses miraculous events during the course of their investigation, all the while Pilate wondering about him as he continues his investigation.

Others to round out the cast are Maria Botto as Mary Magdalene, Luis Callejo as Joses, Antonio Gil as Joseph of Arimathea, Stewart Scudamore as Peter/Simon, Stephen Hagan as Bartholomew, Andy Gathergood as Quintus, a centurion, Richard Atwill as Polybius, Mish Boyko as John and Jan Cornet as Thomas/Dydimus.

This was certainly directed with that epic look by Kevin Reynolds ("The Beast of War" '88, "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" '91, "Rapa Nui" '94, "Waterworld" '95, "One Eight Seven" '97, "The Count of Monte Cristo" '02, "Tristan + Isolde" '06) plus others and TV. I felt he really brought this character, Clavius to life. He was able to emit from Fiennes that true conviction and confusion of this spiritual fight going on inside him, especially considering the enormous politics involved with his position. It was written by Reynolds and Paul Aiello based on a story by Aiello. Even though Reynolds has a fair amount of experience in the writing field, Aiello has virtually no other experience before this film, but considering that, this was much better written than anyone could've expected. It's interesting that this film was actually written as an historical fiction in that the character of Clavius was plopped into a definite period of time--the crucifixion and subsequent Resurrection of Christ and the following search of the Christ's body by Pilate. These writers simply assumed that one of the Tribunes Pilate tasked was named Clavius in order to conduct the investigation. The subsequent search is certainly scriptural (Matt. 27:62-66) where it regards the Hebrew chief priests approaching Pontius Pilate requesting him to post guards at a sealed tomb to prove that Jesus Christ could not rise from the dead as He claimed. So kudos for them in making, an otherwise biopic an interesting mix of both historical events and assumed character development.

Whether one is a believer in Christ or a non-believer, there is certainly something for all here depending where one is in their spiritual walk. This is also a refreshing approach on a subject that has been written about a plethora of times. But, trust me, this topic is one in which can't be approached upon too much, because the message is so important and powerful.

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                             Rated: PG-13                              107mins.