Courageous
I didn't plan on watching Courageous as I'm not really a fan of ministry movies or whatever you want to call them. Facing the Giants and Fireproof were mediocre movies that had good messages but were filled with cheesy dialogue, poor acting and the very obvious appearance of a low budget. Fireproof tried to improve with the addition of Kirk Cameron who is a great actor, but surrounding him were the same problems. So, I didn't really care that a new movie was coming out and I certainly did jump on the bandwagon to promote it. So, here's my review of Courageous.
The Good
Message- The message and importance of fatherhood is certainly a topic that needs to be addressed in our society. The movie did a good job of putting it at the core of the plot and then surrounding it with a positive message of fatherhood based on gospel love. However, there were still scenes that were preachy. Not as bad as before but I have never sat and had a conversation with Christian brothers that sounded anything like the interactions between the men in the movie. It wasn't raw enough. At the end of the movie there is little doubt what the agenda of the movie was. It certainly was heavy handed with its message but a message worth sharing.
Film- As a whole the films have improved with each effort. Courageous was a lot better than Facing the Giants and Fireproof and a huge jump from Flywheel, the very first movie made. It still had the appearance of a made for TV flick on the Lifetime channel, but it had improved so much in every area of the movie. Better acting, bigger budget which meant better overall quality and the evidence of lessons learned through experience.
Humor- I found myself smiling more in this movie. The scene that everyone said was side splitting was funny but it didn't bring the laughter that so many promised. My boys thought it was great and were reduced to tears. The Kendrick brothers do a better job of putting funny dialogue throughout the film which helps season the message a little.
The Bad
Acting- While it has improved over the other films significantly, it was still cringe worthy for me. There were quite a few lines delivered that were bad. I'm not a law enforcement officer but I'm pretty sure that many of the things portrayed in the movie wouldn't be close to proper protocol or reality. I know this is a moot point as so many police based shows are unrealistic, but at least those have the feel that the guys know what they are doing. Javier's wife was really off in her deliverance of lines and there were so many scenes where they were wooden with their deliveries. I know most of the actors are volunteers from the church that financially supports the films, but this really bothers me as an avid film watcher. Bad acting can squander the best of messages.
Too Long- The movie clocks in at over 2 hours long and it feels that way. There were several points toward the end that would have made great stopping points but it just kept going on and on. There were too many angles taken and the film tried to complete them all which dragged it out further than it should have.
Easy Fixes - My biggest problem with these movies is that they offer easy fixes. As a Christian who serves as a pastor there are rarely any times in my almost 10 years of ministry that things are that easily fixed. Nothing is ever wrapped up that neat and automatically smooths life out. It's always a two steps forward one step back reality. The films in this series have always failed in this area. Facing the Giants found a losing football team a winning team, a coach and wife who couldn't conceive had a child, a car breaks down and they are given a new truck. All great things but God isn't a genie in a bottle and the message this portrays isn't consistent with the Bible. It doesn't always work out where every prayer is answered and especially not in the health and wealth manner. Many will overlook this element and walk away with a feel good mentality but I believe it can be harmful in the long term. Courageous wasn't quite as bad, but there were still too many things that gave the same fluffy theology a platform in the film.
Audience- I don't know who the target audience is for these types of films. If it is Christians then they certainly succeeded as churches bought out movie theaters and packed the house. They have bought the corresponding Bible studies and have given the film rave reviews. If the movie can motivate Christian men to be better fathers so be it and it is worth it. But I don't believe it is going to appeal to an audience outside of the church. If it is to be evangelistic in nature the message is there, but the medium is too mediocre to draw the crowd desired to take it in. My hope and prayer is that eventually these films will be better produced and made at a higher quality so that it will reach those outside of the church walls. This too is a big gripe for me as I think most non-believing movie goers just laugh at these movies and never give them a chance and that is too bad.
Final Conclusion: Not as bad as I thought, but not good enough. Christian film making still has a long way to go to compete for the audiences that are so easily captured by the smut put out by Hollywood.
Real Steel
The Good
Unique Visuals- Based off of the short story "Steel" by Richard Matheson and is up for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. It is a cool looking movie for sure, and the Rocky inspired robot movie provides the technical aspects needed to garner attention for this CGI hungry generation of movie goers. The robots have some cool designs, but that is about all it has going for it.
Unique Visuals- Based off of the short story "Steel" by Richard Matheson and is up for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. It is a cool looking movie for sure, and the Rocky inspired robot movie provides the technical aspects needed to garner attention for this CGI hungry generation of movie goers. The robots have some cool designs, but that is about all it has going for it.
The Bad
Acting- Horrible. I normally rave about Hugh Jackman, but he was awful in this movie. The kid was annoying and Evangeline Lilly was non-existent for most of the movie. Bleh.
Same old story- This story has been told over and over again, and Real Steel adds nothing new to it. In fact, there are many more films that tell it much better. Real Steel just adds robots to the mix, but it isn't enough to make the movie a good movie. I still prefer Rocky for my boxing, Transformers for my robots, and a whole slew of other films that look at the Father/Son dynamic.
Robot Fights- The fights just weren't that great. None of them caused me to sit up and cheer. None of them brought anything outside of the norm of fight scenes. Visually stimulating robots, but yawn inspiring fights. It's too bad because the film had tons of potential but just couldn't deliver the goods.
Too long- I wanted it to end so much earlier. Lost its steam at about the hour and a half mark, and tried to save itself with the big fight, but still seemed lackluster overall.
Acting- Horrible. I normally rave about Hugh Jackman, but he was awful in this movie. The kid was annoying and Evangeline Lilly was non-existent for most of the movie. Bleh.
Same old story- This story has been told over and over again, and Real Steel adds nothing new to it. In fact, there are many more films that tell it much better. Real Steel just adds robots to the mix, but it isn't enough to make the movie a good movie. I still prefer Rocky for my boxing, Transformers for my robots, and a whole slew of other films that look at the Father/Son dynamic.
Robot Fights- The fights just weren't that great. None of them caused me to sit up and cheer. None of them brought anything outside of the norm of fight scenes. Visually stimulating robots, but yawn inspiring fights. It's too bad because the film had tons of potential but just couldn't deliver the goods.
Too long- I wanted it to end so much earlier. Lost its steam at about the hour and a half mark, and tried to save itself with the big fight, but still seemed lackluster overall.
Final Conclusion
I would still recommend the film for a late night popcorn romp, but I can't say much more for it. I think my boys will like it, but I don't see me paying much attention to it after this initial viewing. Didn't live up to the hype. I suggest watching Rocky instead.
I would still recommend the film for a late night popcorn romp, but I can't say much more for it. I think my boys will like it, but I don't see me paying much attention to it after this initial viewing. Didn't live up to the hype. I suggest watching Rocky instead.