Thursday, November 06, 2003
(2:11 AM) | Anonymous:
The Final Push To The Sum
I've just seen perhaps the most overtly Christian big-budget movie ever..well, ever might go to far, if that's the case I'll just say since Ben Hur..
I speak of the Matrix:Revolutions, but really the whole series in how it winds up. I won't ruin it for anyone, but..I think they make it pretty massively apparent that this is a Christian movie (with some Hindu and new-age thought mixed in as well, of course.)
Really, especially the end, I think is amazing, theologically. And I don't mean like "look..he was ressurected..oh look the ship is named "logos" and the other one is "nebuchanezzer", or, look Morpheus called himself Lazarus or whatever. I mean..those play a part..but I think more than shallow Jesus references, the very character of Neo as Savior is greatly parallel to what little I've come to understand of Christ as Savior.
I really don't think this will give anything away, but just in case, here's 1 blank line of warning:
Talking to Larry Allen, he said it was funny to hear his Christian friends ripping the plot, since it is essentially the story of Jesus told with leather and guns.
Similarly, a Christian friend I went with at the end said "Oh geeze, so basically he didn't change ANYTHING?!" Which is, of course, similar to the fact that Christ healed some people and preached some sermons, but was crucified with the Jews still under Roman rule, people still getting sick and dying, and pretty much the majority of people ignoring every word he had said. Did Jesus change anything? Yes..he changed it by refusing to play the same game, and setting up a new "program" free from the laws of death and fear, and filled with that of choice and love.
Don't get me wrong, there are parts where Keanu's delivery is terribly laughable. There's parts where they go overboard on the Superman bit. The Wochowski's, while great at monologues and over-all plot development, definitely struggle with individual short dialogue, which is the bulk of most all movies. There are times where the Brothers W decide to take 15 minutes to show off their "cool tricked out directing skillz" before getting back to the story or the action...
but all in all, I have to say, the movie on it's own is really pretty good, and the theology is the most accurate portrayal of Christ I've seen.
