Disclaimer: We're not big movie-go-ers. Maybe 2-3 a year in theaters. Saw Narnia last week--it was ok. Really liked the first Lord of the Rings. Lots of kids movies on DVD--Incredibles, Nemo, Shrek--the usual, all great. The Passion really made me think.
And End of the Spear?...
The theater was about half-full for the 4:10 show. Afterwards, we got in the car before we asked each other what we thought. Usually, I have no big opinion & want to know what she thinks first. Not this time; I thought it was one of the best movies I've ever seen. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. Brenda; Me too. But I had to close my eyes a couple times. I feel like I can finally breathe. We both liked it better than Narnia.
I had expected it to be decent. After the first two minutes of narration, I thought this could be good. I kept waiting for long conversations and character development, but it really didn't do it the usual Hollywood way (that's not a complaint). It's all about the story, and it keeps it up the whole movie. I was surprised when it ended, again, because it hadn't done things the Hollywood way and now I realized it wasn't going to. It seemed way shorter than a 1:50 movie.
When the women went into the jungle to meet the killers of their husbands, it made me think of the firemen who went into the WTC on 9/11. I would've been giving up and getting out of there, not going in. And they had the kids with them! It was like they were going to finish this, no matter what.
I liked that it gave the audience some credit--it didn't shout, Hey this is a movie about Christianity! It's more like reading the book of Esther, where it's not God's name that is heard, but his footprints that are seen. The only Christian terminology I remember was the word pray 2-3 times. It let the story tell the story, and it did; they were speared but they didn't spear back.
Don't rush out at the end--during the credits there's some nifty clips from the real-life documentary on the same story. And, for us, it's way too intense for kids.
