The acting was great. The subtitling was not a problem. I was leery about the subtitles. But they did not bother me. They did a great job on those.
I am really glad to see this movie has done so well at the box office. 135 million at the box office so far is some feet. Especially for a religious movie. Considering that The Passion has been getting bad press for over a year now, I think more people went to see if they would hate it.
Some things in the movie were questionable, debatable, controversial. For example did the nails go in His hands or wrists? There were a couple things like that I picked up. But I think Gibson went with the more widely accepted views, or the way I like to put it, what most people were taught when they were a kid.
There is no doubt that this was a very hard movie to see through from beginning to end, and saying it is thanks to the passion of Mel Gibson is surely no pun. All the hard work payed off in spades, regardless of the full on barrage of media in his face through every moment until, and even after opening day.
I could go on and on here, I thought it was a great movie, a great story that Gibson told very well. I liked the actress who played Satan, I thought she did a good job. James Caviezel played a good Jesus, Monica Bellucci (Matrix Reloaded, Revolutions) played Mary Magdalene well. I thought the entire cast, Maia Morgenstern as Mary, they all did very well.
If you are thinking of skipping this movie because of the blood and gore, don't let that stop you. This was a great film and one you should not miss. I might suggest that you don't take your kids to see this movie. Buy the DVD so they can watch it when they grow up. I only say that because of the sometimes horrific scenes of torture.
I give this movie a solid A.
Originally posted on Breaking Windows.
Article comments
1 - troy
Hey whatsup glad you liked the movie it was an awesome movie and i wanted to coment on what you said about you didnt know if it had to be bloody or not i feel that this movie had to show that because we need to see what Jesus went through and how bloody he was to pay for our sins that is why the bible says by his stripes we are healed so i know for a fact that it had to be shown in the movie. ANd also it wasnt Peter whos ear was cut off Peter cut one of the guards ear off and the nails actually went through the wrist not the hand cause if they would have put the nails in his hand the wieght of there body would have ripped them out. But im glad you enjoyed the movie and i hope you tell someone else that you live around about the movie.
2 - Ken Edwards
The question about the wrists was rhetorical. In the movie they put the nails through the hands, i believe, is because people were taught (when young) that they put the nails through his hands. also many paintings and stained glass windows have the nails through his hands, not wrists.
3 - Steven
Excellent review, one of the better ones I have read amid the slew of negative, biased reviews.
Well Done!
4 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
I think the thing about the blood and gore in The Passion is missing the point a bit. As gore goes, i doubt it's even as bad as Braveheart. However, it is the cruelty depicted that is hard to bear. I think if a lot of the critics went back and looked, there aren't really so many shots of whips hitting flesh as they thought hitherto. Bit like Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Folks thought it was the goriest thing they ever saw, and then they see it again and think they're watching a cut version. The mind plays strange tricks. But the cruelty is incredibly distressing. Like Irreversible, which i keep harping on about, but it's a valid point in relation to this. The fire-extinguisher sequence is not particularly gory, as such, and it only lasts a couple minutes. but the tension leading up to it, and the unbearable glee which the onlookers experience during said brutality, is what really does the trick.