Film Reviews - A New Voice

I'm pretty excited about a new voice on Homileo, I've invited my Brother and Friend Dan Roche to guest blog combining two of his loves - Jesus and Film - to give Christ centered reviews of the films that he watches and perhaps draw a few modern day parables from them; pointing to Jesus and the true and greatest Epic.

History has sometimes been described by Christians as His-Story, the story of God. God has placed eternity on our hearts and so I believe even when non-Christians write a story, the themes of the great story shadow theirs. Themes such as the need for a hero, the need of a father figure who'll teach us and mentor us, sacrifice, love, good vs evil etc are everywhere in the films we enjoy the most.

To quote from the Film and Theology guys at Mars Hill Church;
"Cinema is a modern day pulpit. Movie theaters are not so different from church assemblies; people flock to their local multiplexes, group together, and find themselves moved by a worldview revealed in story form, allowing themselves to be emotionally led by directors and screenwriters who influence how we feel, think, and even act. Whether a film moves us to tears, chills us to the bone or makes us laugh infectiously, you can notice its influence in repeated phrases, shared platitudes, and lives reflecting the characters that resonate with us."

Many people we come in contact with in our communities view films and enjoy them, I believe that this is a great starting point to engage with and ultimately use in sharing the Gospel.

I shared with some about my thoughts after watching the latest Rambo film that my thoughts had followed from Rambo being the hero and saviour who saved the weak and killed the evil doers to the longing for Jesus to return. Beside Jesus Rambo will pale into nothing - We read in Revelation 19 of Jesus coming to 'make war' He is covered in the blood of His enemies and is equipped with a sword. It says in vs 21 of his enemies that they "were killed with the sword that proceeded" from His mouth. It describes Him in verse 15 as one who would strike the nations and tread the wine-press of fierceness and wrath of Almighty God". (Have you ever seen someone work in a wine-press? They are covered in the juices from head to toe- Not a picture we often have of Jesus).

I found myself praying and longing that Jesus would return before any more women, children or men would be abused, raped, molested, murdered or anything else.
That He would bring vengeance upon evil doers. (I also found that I need to work on my mercy and that I love justice - Praise God He has mercy because I deserve His wrath too - So I'm moved to place myself with the murderers and rapists and paedophiles portrayed in this film and thank God for the Cross by which mercy and grace comes to any who repent and trust Him).

Anyway - That's enough from my rambling mind on film - though hopefully we'll see some posts in the future from Dan, pointing us to Jesus through the hazy lens of Film.