Review Roundup: SON OF GOD Brings BIBLE to Big Screen

Mark Burnett and Roma Downey's Son Of God opens in theaters nationwide today. The movie features scenes from the couple's epic miniseries THE BIBLE, as well as previously unseen deleted scenes.

The fillm stars Diogo Morgado, Greg Hicks, Adrian Schiller, Darwin Shaw, Sebastian Knapp, Joe Wredden, Simon Kunz, Paul Marc Davis, Matthew Gravelle, Amber Rose Revah and Downey.

This major motion picture brings the story of Jesus' life to audiences through compelling cinematic storytelling that is both powerful and inspirational. Told with the scope and scale of an action epic, the film features powerful performances, exotic locales, dazzling visual effects and a rich orchestral score from Oscar-winner Hans Zimmer.

What did the critics have to say?

Martin Tsai | Los Angeles Times

"In the beginning was the Bible. The Bible begat the History Channel's THE BIBLE miniseries. Now THE BIBLE has begotten the movie SON OF GOD, which is essentially the second half of the miniseries, the New Testament, recut to feature length." Read the full review here.

Nicolas Rapold | The New York Times

"Mr. Morgado's Jesus is steadfast and has a generic charismatic glow but little feeling of depth; he seems like a visual supplement to his words. But the director, Christopher Spencer, and the producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey (who also plays Mary) are obviously trying for a broad, nod-along appeal, smearing on a smidgen of gore as if mindful of the positively radical blockbuster THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, and ending on a note of evangelism." Read the full review here.

Teddy Durgin | Screen It!

"Bottom line? Son Of God will prove an inevitably powerful experience for Christian audiences. It's a film made for them by people who do seem to have noble intentions. So, why another Jesus movie, some of you ask? Yeah, I ask the same thing about Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, James Bond, Jason Voorhees, and so on and so on. Some stories just bear re-telling and re-casting." Read the full review here.

Sheila O'Malley | RogerEbert.com

"SON OF GOD's earnest-ness is not necessarily a strike against it; it was made by earnest people who want to spread the word. But it's a tough draught to swallow if you're not in the mood for a sermon." Read the full review here.

Claudia Puig | USA Today

"The story, which follows Jesus from nativity to resurrection, is essentially a series of greatest-hits miracles. Jesus casually multiplies a loaf of bread and some fish into a feast for a crowd, raises Lazarus from the dead and walks across the surface of a storm-tossed sea in a manner befitting a superhero. It can be argued that Jesus is the ultimate superhero, but this film's approach seems to trivialize the dawn of Christianity into a top-10 list of exploits and famous phrases." Read the full review here.

Steven Rea | Philadelphia Inquirer

"With its Sunday-school narration and its periodic flyovers of a computer-rendered Jerusalem, and with a cast that can best be described as handsome, Son Of God reduces the civilization-shaping events in the life and times of Jesus into a highlight reel. Born in a manger, check. The Sermon on the Mount, check. The cleansing of the temples, check." Read the full review here.

Stephen Whitty | The Newark Star-Ledger

"But SON OF GOD, unfortunately, is ultimately just a bit of canny recycling - taking several hours from the New Testament half of THE BIBLE miniseries, adding some footage, and then re-editing it into another, standard life of Jesus." Read the full review here.

Peter Hartlaub| San Francisco Chronicle

"And yet the film does thoroughly succeed in one important regard: offering a coherent, viewer-friendly account of the life of Jesus Christ. The movie flies by despite its 138-minute running time, a holy CliffsNotes that packs in all the greatest hits. Never again will a Sunday school student get lower than a C-minus on this material." Read the full review here.

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