In Darren Aronofsky’s new film “Noah”, certain liberties are taken from its source material. There are giant beings made of stone, “The Watchers”, who are put to use in a variety of ways, to make the story more exciting and to explain certain things, such as how Noah was actually able to construct the huge ark itself. After all, this is Hollywood, where a mere retelling of the story of Noah and his ark wouldn’t be enough to entertain the average movie-goer. Liberties are taken and new things are added to the Old Testament story that will both heighten the entertainment level and piss off a lot of devout Bible-thumpers.
Other things are added to the old story as well. Noah’s Grandfather is added, played beatifically by Anthony Hopkins. He is a wise old man who lives in a mountain cave and imparts valuable advice to Noah (Russell Crowe), his wife (Jennifer Connelly) and children as well as possessing the gift of healing. Emma Watson plays a girl who they discover, partially alive in an area strewn with the dead who Noah takes in and raise as one of his own. Eventually she will become the wife of one of Noah’s sons, though she is barren as the result of her injuries from the aforementioned discovery site.
In a prelude at the beginning of the film we are shown the lineage that has descended from the original humans, Adam and Eve. Of their children, Cain murders Abel, as we know. Their third son, Seth is just and good as are all his descendants. Cain’s descendants are evil and treacherous. These two lines populate the earth, Noah being a descendant of the good Seth. The inevitable flood comes to rid the earth of all the nasty inhabits who have spawned from Cain.
There are scenes which are enjoyable and fun to watch. The raising of the ark, the coming of the various species of animals, and the flood itself are handled masterfully by director Aronofsky.
Although there are amped-up special effects and unnecessary character and story additions, I found this film entertaining and highly watchable.
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