My Berhan (my husband) and I watched the movie “Risen” yesterday night with five kids and we loved it.
Well, truth to be told, I personally left the movie theatre hungry and thirsty for the name “Jesus.” Why? The movie director chose the name “Yahushua”, not Jesus. (Yahushua in Hebrew, means Messiah.)
The movie director, Kevin Reynolds, tried to make the movie attractive to both believers and non-believers and one way to do that is by taking the name “Jesus” out. The movie is all about Jesus’ resurrection. One of Pontius Pilate’s soldiers was assigned to find the body because they didn’t want to accept His resurrection and that is the whole story of the movie.
The soldier, Clavius (his real name, Joseph Fiennes) made the movie, in my opinion, one of the best Christian movies ever when it comes to action. He is a man with six-pack abs and shoulders which look like they could lift up a five-story building. He is an amazing actor.
Risen is PG-13; so if you have kids younger than 13, I don’t think it is wise to let them watch this movie by themselves. It is a bit graphic (killing). No cuss or swearing/vulgar words; no sexual or suggestive scenes.
The movie’s producer, Rich Peluso, said “What we’re seeing from non-Christians and those who do not regularly attend church is that they do not feel preached to. They don’t feel kind of hit over the head with Jesus or the Bible. But they are intrigued by this man and His followers.”
There you have it!
Do I recommend this movie to families? Yes, I do; it is a good movie to watch. But before you go inside the theater, get enough dose of the name “Jesus” because you ain’t going to hear it in the movie. Or, get used to His name in Hebrew. ///