Director: Kevin Reynolds
Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Duration: 107 minutes
Risen (Blu-ray) – Movie Review
The stories and events that are written in the Bible and has been used as subject in several movies and books. For instance, ‘The Passion of The Christ’ that was released in 2004 showed the last twelve hours of Jesus Christs’ life before the crucifixion. ‘Risen’ on the other hand, starts at the point that Yeshua has already been sold out by Judas. Instead of the normal view, the movie shows how a Roman soldier experienced these events.
Clavius (Joseph Fiennes) is a tribune in the Roman Army, in charge of keeping peace and order in Jerusalem and it surrounding towns. At the beginning, it is clear that the inhabitants aren’t too keen on their visitors. The protagonist needs to slay the zealots that are causing trouble and in the end, kills their leader and hopes everything will settle down again. After this fight, he wants to get some rest but is summoned by the prefect Pilate (Peter Firth). It seems that something went amiss as there were three crucifixions. One of them was the proclaimed Messiah, which set some bad blood with the inhabitants. It is Clavius’ job to go and solve everything and gets the help from the newcomer Lucius (Tom Felton).
On the scene, it is clear that the Messiah is loved by a lot of people. They don’t want their leader and friend to be killed by these intruders. In the end, Yeshua (Cliff Curtis) receives a quick death and, thanks to his relatives, gets buried in a family grave. The Messiah claimed that he would rise again after three days, making some of the local authorities jumpy. They want that the Romans seal the crypt and guard it, giving the disciples no chance to steal the dead body. As you might know, this really wasn’t the case. The body disappeared and Clavius has to discover the truth by finding the disciples and retrieving the body before the Emperor arrives.
The pace of the movie is set by the events that occur in the Bible, although the story is intertwined with a more fictional narrative. You get the story from a different perspective, namely from a Roman soldier that doesn’t really believe in the new God and needs to investigate what exactly transpired. This means that some of the events that were written in the Bible are altered or adjusted to fit in. In the end, it’s a harmonious combination with fictional parts and scenes that have transpired. It might feel that months have passed since the crucifixion but less is true. The viewer gets enough details on what is actually going on, although some of the deleted scenes certainly hold some information that would have been nice to have. The duration of the movie isn’t that long, so some of them were better added rather than deleted.
Risen had the opportunity to have some great actors for certain roles. Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in love, Hercules) has performed some great acting as the infidel Clavius. The change in the character when witnessing some inexplicable events and his point of view regarding the disciples and the Messiah is really nice to see. Also, his interactions with Tom Felton (Harry Potter) tend to change, while Lucius himself also matures during the movie. Cliff Curtis (10 000 BC, Fear the Walking Dead) really fits the role as Messiah and is able to show so much compassion and sympathy for everyone.
If you were hoping for some fun extras, you’re lucky. Next to some deleted scenes, you can also watch the movie with live commentary or get some ‘behind the scenes’ intel. Even more, there is also some commentary on how the script of Risen has formed and how it was practised for the movie. This is certainly a nice extra bonus, as you can get a glimpse of how everything was made and formed.
Conclusion
Risen is a combination of both fictional and non-fictional elements and shows what happens after the crucifixion of the Messiah. Clavius needs to solve the mystery regarding the rise of Yeshua. The actors perform very well and take the quality to the next level and although there are some extras, if you’re not into religious movies then it would be wise to let this title slip.
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