Noah (12A)

Directed by Darren Aronofsky
Starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connolly, Emma Watson, Anthony Hopkins, Logam Lerman, Douglas Booth, Ray Winstone

Despite venturing dangerously into Michael Bay territory at times, Darren Arranofsky's biblical epic works thanks to some dazzling visuals and a solid, stoic and non-showy performance from Russell Crowe. The well known tale of the flood and the ark is expanded into an action movie, but at its core is Noah, a man who believes he is carrying out Gods work, despite the opposition (at times) of his family.
Emma Watson pops up as his adopted daughter and partner to Noah's oldest son Shem (it doesn't do any good to think deeply about the biological implications of the 'go forth and multiply' bit for pretty much all species, and our Em hooking up with her adopted brother is on the less icky end of the scale!)
I find watching Emma Watson like watching your niece or nephew - we've watched her grow up and are desperate for her NOT to suck! She is fine, I'm happy to report, although her suitor Shem(Douglas Booth) is pretty drippy! She'd had been better off with other bother Ham (Logan Lerman, always an interesting young actor to watch.)
Ray Winstone and Anthony Hopkins bring some rather elderly acting muscle to proceedings, which is a relief as the stone monsters that look like Transformers are extremely daft. Watson and Jennifer Connelly are a tad over wrought at times while Crowe is as good as he's been is ages in a very understated yet powerful performance.
Just a little bit too long and full of plot holes (although I think we can blame the source material there!) this is a surprisingly successful and thoughtful film. Arranofsky's visual flair and eye for the weird means after a stack of comic book films that have made up my recent viewing, this was refreshingly original.
7/10

April 2014