"God's Not Dead 2" Movie Review

By: James Southworth
Rating: 0.5/5 Stars

Let's get one thing straight: Christian movies haven't been good for a long time.  There always seems to be so many problems with them: laughable acting, a ham fisted message, uninteresting stories, embarrassing production quality, and so many other things. There have only been a few explicitly Christian movies I have ever enjoyed: "Courageous" at least had a decent message, and "Facing the Giants"  is pretty harmless as well, not trying to be too overbearing in its themes and presenting a straight-forward story. The same can't be said for any movie coming from Pure Flix. I have tried to avoid this movie (or more accurately, "propaganda") group like the plague because I have always seen very harsh reviews for their movies from both Christians and non-Christians alike. But none of their movies became too public until "God's Not Dead", which grossed a whopping $64 million, the biggest money-making Christian film since "The Passion of the Christ". When I saw this movie, I was so surprised that THIS was the Christian movie making so much money. It was even worse than other movies like it, emphasizing the tropes of bad Christian movies in even larger ways. It had a very us vs. them approach, with pretty much every Christian being this good, pure person, and the atheists being bitter, evil people who were illogical in choosing to not believe in God. It is an insulting movie to both Christians and atheists. "God's Not Dead 2" is somehow even worse than the first one in more ways than one. This one is pretty much a court drama where a teacher named Grace (how subtle) is put on trial for merely talking about Jesus in historical context in the classroom.

This movie goes beyond the problems of bad acting and production quality, but let's address those surface level things first. The acting is straight-up deplorable in this movie. And the worst thing is, it isn't that the performances are too over-the-top, it's that pretty much every single one is under performed and bland. This honestly makes it worse, whereas the first "God's Not Dead" at least benefited from some the leads actually trying. It's hard to get behind Melissa Joan Hart as main character Grace, as she does not put anything into her role. All her lines are delivered very stilted and awkward. Nothing about this character is convincing. But maybe the worst part of all of this is, though she is the main character, she doesn't get many lines as the focus is more on court drama. So, her character is not developed in any sense of the word. Grace is extremely one-note, and doesn't change at any moment in the movie, which makes for a bad protagonist as well as bad writing. The same can be said for almost every other role. Jesse Metacalfe as Tom Endler, the lawyer defending Grace, is another lead and doesn't have anything compelling to offer, either. He starts out the movie as an atheist (probably more accurately an agnostic, but this movie doesn't explore the subtleties of beliefs), but his "implied" change to a Christian is so quick and doesn't make sense. It comes out of nowhere. His character is just a generic nice guy, nothing more, nothing less. But the worst contender for acting is Ray Wise as Peter Kane, the one going up against Grace and trying to get her fired. It's not entirely his fault, because I know this guy is normally a good actor. But the movie creators painted him as a very cartoonish villain instead of a fleshed out human being. All the guy does throughout the movie is make evil smiles and say ridiculous things like "I'm going to prove once and for all God is dead", which is not something any atheist would say. His character isn't redeemed either (more on that later). He's basically a straw man, someone you're so obviously forced to hate in order to favor Grace. It's a weak and pathetic tactic on the movie creators' parts. The only good performance comes from Pat Boone, whose charming persona shone through his character, but he was in it for a disappointingly short amount of time.

What might make this movie even more awful is just how boring it is in terms of production value. The camera angles are so basic and cliched. I nearly fell asleep because nothing interesting was happening with them. There were sometimes when there were these bizarre long shots that didn't feel like they were needed, and it left the actors just awkwardly sitting there most of the time. The lighting was all bright and cheerful, even in the more "serious" moments of the film, so there was no feeling of tension or variation in tone. But all these production things can't compare to what really hurt this film: the pacing. Wow, was it boring. The movie started slow and didn't ever pick up pace or become interesting; the only part that really did catch my attention was the ending, and that's just because of how dumb and over-the-top it was. Otherwise, everything just felt like it was moving along at a snails pace; I felt every minute of this 1 hour and 49 minute showtime. The court scenes just dragged on and on, with some of the witnesses feeling like they were testifying on the podium for 5 minutes or so. All of the testimonies were supposed to have a certain amount of weight to them. But they were so underwhelming in how they were presented that I didn't feel any weight or tension in them at all. And the ending of this movie just threw so much on you that it was impossible to take it all in. Perhaps the weirdest part of this was the movie ending on a Newsboys concert. I know that the Newsboys have their fingerprints all over this movie, but ending it was them felt out of place with what the rest of the movie was doing. In fact, their presence in this movie felt very unnecessary, just like in the first one. I guess people think that this movie is automatically good because it has the Newsboys seal of approval on it, but that just feels like a horrible excuse designed by the creators of this franchise. And unfortunately, people literally brought into this premise. I'm convinced it is because of the Newsboys this movie got off the ground, and because of that, I have lost a lot of respect for them and can't bring myself to listen to any of their music from the Michael Tait era.

Now let's move on to what I really need to address. Just consider this: as of right now, this franchise is the most popular Christian movie franchise. And what does this franchise do? I can tell you that there isn't a trace of redeemable message here, as it feels more like shameless propaganda than anything, designed to make Christians paranoid. Even worse, this movie does even MORE harm than its predecessor. Much like the first one, one of this movie's problems is painting almost every atheist as one-dimensional evil people with no complexity to them. The only atheists considered good in here aren't necessarily atheists (even though the movie still claims they are) at all, since they are asking questions and considering Christianity (once again, they'd be more of the agnostic practice). But the ones that are true atheists through and through, no joke, are all older men or women wearing business suits. They all have an evil agenda to try to tear down Christianity because they believe it is tearing the fabrics of society down- don't believe me? That's exactly what Peter Kane says he wants to do, and it sounded like something so stupid; no human besides a really paranoid one would say this. I am not joking, Kane says a line exactly like that, and it is supposed to be taken seriously. Since Pure Flix is saying that atheists are like this, they are actually the paranoid ones appealing to a paranoid Christian demographic. These creators are basically saying that atheists want to destroy us and want to claim God is dead, which is a pretty strong and hateful thing to say about other people who God tells us we should love. All of this is just wrong. Atheists don't believe God is dead, they believe God doesn't exist at all. So, the premise of both of these movies is already pretty messed up based on that; there is no understanding of the atheist practice. But there are even more problematic things in this movie.

"God's Not Dead 2" makes their claim about separation of church and state abundantly clear: there shouldn't be any separation at all. Teachers should be able to evangelize to their impressionable students in a secular classroom, instead of letting students discover their faith for them self with guidance from their direct family or religious figures. And yet, the way they go about trying to defend this idea is really weak. In the courtroom, people who are defending Grace often just use fancy speech and simple, appealing ideas to entice the movie-going audience. There is no evidence used, no true analysis of Biblical text. There were two interesting times when two real-life authors of two books came up and testified about God, but their testimonies were extremely wordy and confusing. And there were times when the movie was confused about what it was saying in regards to separation of church and state: sometimes it was saying that this trial wasn't about faith,  but then other times it said it was about faith. So, which one is it? The final verdict seems to be that the trial WAS a case for faith, but even then I wasn't very sure because of how disorganized the trial felt. The way the trial was won was extremely nonsensical. All that the lawyer defending Grace does is uses some strong rhetoric about her faith and how she should have freedom of speech or whatever, and that somehow convinces the jury to declare her innocent. How that happened, I don't know. I laughed (cynically, mind you) when I saw that happened; this movie is so far removed from reality it's ridiculous.

At the end of the day, all this movie is concerned about is preaching to this demographic of Christians that is apparently so paranoid atheists are trying to destroy Christianity and the fabric of society. If this is the movie franchise (or as the movie itself puts it, the "God's Not Dead Movement") that is championing the Christian cause,  then we have a problem. The series doesn't know what it wants to say, having big contradictions in regards to its views on evolution, the separation of church and state, and a spiteful look on atheists when God teaches us to not judge others based on labels or beliefs. There are stereotypes galore, from the dangerous Muslim father and cruel atheist who rejected God based on emotion (the rejection of God is almost always based logical reasons for atheists) in the first "God's Not Dead", to an Asian father who rejects his son because he chose Christianity and evil atheists who all wore business suits in "God's Not Dead 2". This franchise, as well as Pure Flix, is a disease, and both need to be eradicated. If these movies continue to be successful, then it will be no surprise as to why the secular world views many Christians as close-minded and lacking clear thought. Skip out on both of these movies, as not only are they miserable to watch, but they are sure to make you angry. If you are one of the Christians who likes these series, I have no ill will towards you. But I ask you: would God really promote these movies? Just think on it.

Criticizing the Critics

By: James Southworth
 

If there's one thing the general population can agree on, it's that at one time or another we have not agreed with a critic's opinion on something. Whether it's movies, music, TV shows, books, or any other medium of art, there is always some critic whose opinion we just cannot bring ourselves to accept because we either like or hate that work, unlike them. And that is just fine. All opinions are valid in their own ways, and the opinion you hold is just as valid as mine. But when our opinion leads to infringing on another person's opinion too much, that's when problems arise. This idea of infringing opinions leads to an event I want to talk about that has happened recently. "Suicide Squad" came out last Friday, with pretty positive reviews from general audiences (it has an average rating of 7/10 on IMDB) and decidedly less positive reviews from critics on Rotten Tomatoes- a 26% ("rotten" certification) to be exact. Based on Rotten Tomatoes' standards, that's a really bad rating. And the reviews reflect the low percentage, with many critics completely bashing the movie. The result of this? A lot of fans of this movie were quick to react in anger to the critics. Many of them didn't think that these opinions were "correct". So, there was an actual petition started on change.org to have RT taken off the internet. To my utter disbelief, there are already over 15,000 signatures. This is actually a sort of scary thought: it shows just how many people in America don't believe in free speech despite the fact it's in our constitution.

I won't lie: Rotten Tomatoes is far from a perfect site. Sometimes their percentages will be a bit wrong, and the percentages often bring more weight to the top critics than any of the other ones, which is unfair. The consensuses done for each movie/TV show they review is pretty generic and the consensus doesn't accurately represent the thought of every critic- which is a pretty hard feat to accomplish anyway; reviews always have many nuances. But that didn't give all these people the right to react in such extreme ways to the critics' reviews of "Suicide Squad". It seems in this day and age, America has become so individualistic that if you try to criticize anything in an objective way, you will get called out as utterly wrong by another person. To that person, there is no room for discussion of your opinion, as their opinion is the only right one. Social media has so many examples of this, primarily on Facebook. People are always looking to be offended by some sort of opinion, instead of trying to have an understanding of it. Even better, they could just move on instead of just flat out hating on the opinion. The way people are expressing their disdain for RT's reviews is not the right way to express their opinion. They are actively trying to shut the critics' rights to free speech so that they can be special snowflakes and have their view point be the only one right.

This RT incident is just a more extreme example of several times when critics have been unreasonably hated on for merely doing their job. I know upon writing that, many people will be quick to point out that they think some critics ARE bad at their job. And there are certainly some who are worse than others: some critics will be quick to over-analyze every detail of a movie in ridiculous ways. Others do not do a good job of expressing what they think; they don't offer evidence to back their opinions and instead just make insane statements with no legitimate reasoning attached. But do the haters really think the critics will change if they are flat out hated on for what they are doing? The answer is no, negativity doesn't change anything. If anything, critics will keep even more staunchly to what they are doing; the haters are just adding fuel to the fire. They will do it just to make haters mad. I know, human emotions are unpredictable and often irrational. That is the beauty and the tragedy of the human condition. But to the people who hate unreasonably on the critics: do you think you could take a deep breath and think rationally before just madly ranting about your anger? It's guaranteed you'll look worse than the people you're hating on.

Now don't think that I'm saying critics don't deserve any criticism they get. As a critic myself, I love when people tell me what I could improve on in my writing; I appreciate it when someone suggests how I could analyze a certain thing better. The best way to criticize those who do criticizing for a job is to start a dialogue; leave room for discussion. Everyone hates when someone will just leave a hateful opinion out there and refuse to move on from it. People will generally be more willing to talk about a critique or problem you have with their content if you just talk to them about it with CONSTRUCTIVE, not DESTRUCTIVE, criticism. I myself have been guilty of using destructive criticism. As I've grown up, I've learned how to use my constructive criticism to still express an opinion that doesn't infringe on the free speech of others. But I'm still not perfect at it; no one is. We all just have to grow and learn the many subtleties of discussing opinions. If expressing opinions is going down a negative path, I generally try a different tactic that keeps both of our opinions valid, and makes the discussion healthier, rather than just yelling "You're wrong!" in different deviations. Maybe some of you don't agree with what I'm saying here. That's fine, I'd love to hear why, as long as you're not just straight up dismissing my opinion without discussion. I think that's what the critics want, too. I hope that change can happen. But for now, we're a long way from making that change. Bottom line: this petition of deleting RT was idiotic and wrong. If you signed the petition, you're part of a very relevant problem. If you didn't, thank you. Let's all try to keep free speech and the healthy expression of different opinions alive, one person at a time.

Skillet "Unleashed" Album Review

By: James Southworth
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

If you haven't heard of Skillet, chances are you will sometime in the future. This band has been growing steadily ever since their very successful release of "Comatose". And after that, "Awake" firmly planted them as one of  the most popular rock bands out there as it was certified platinum. I have had a huge attachment to this band ever since I saw them live and then got into their album "Comatose", which is still one of my favorite albums of all time. For quite some time, Skillet was my favorite band until my musical tastes began to evolve and I began to see my childhood nostalgia was sort of clouding my judgement on this group. I used to refuse to hear anyone say a bad word on Skillet, and if they did, I was always quick to argue about how they were wrong. But now that I'm older and have a more open mind in terms to music, I can see why some people might not like Skillet, and I even share some of their concerns. For one, ever since "Comatose", Skillet has been trying to replicate the style of that album, sometimes making songs in the process that were near clones. I can't stand "Awake" for the most part, because it is practically "Comatose" part 2. It is also filled with ballads to the point of excess, and the only good ones are "Lucy" and "Believe". To make things worse, so many songs from "Awake" were on repeat on the radio so much ("Hero" and "Awake and Alive" in particular) that I got tired of the album and I don't listen to it much anymore. Their next album "Rise", was certainly an improvement over "Awake" in many ways, but its conceptual structure bogged it down a bit, and it unfortunately had some of their worst songs ("American Noise" is my least favorite Skillet song) to date in the midst of some really good songs. So, when I saw Skillet coming out with a new album this year in "Unleashed", I was really hoping this would be the truly worthy follow-up to "Comatose". And is it? The short answer is, thankfully, yes!

Skillet gets things off to a very positive start in a winning streak of their first four tracks. Usually the beginning part of Skillet's records has at least one weak song (almost always the ballad), but here all of the first four songs deliver. I loved the experimental industrial rock on "Feel Invincible", and I still do now. The song is so explosive and energetic, and it felt like a breath of fresh air. It was nice to hear a song that wasn't trying to copy off of "Rebirthing" (not that "Hero" and "Rise" are bad songs) and instead is its own entity. John Cooper and Jen Ledger's reliable vocals come in strong. The lyrics are nothing very special, but they give off  a very fun pump-up anthem vibe that worked for getting me excited about this album. "Back From the Dead" is yet another Skillet song that sounds unlike anything they've done before. The scat vocals and the VERY catchy chorus make this one an instant fun highlight, and with lyrics like "The zombies come out at night/They'll never catch me", it was impossible for me to not smile as I could tell how much fun Skillet has with this song. And then comes the ballad "Stars". Ever since "Comatose", Skillet has done a ballad for their third track, and for every album, it hasn't worked. I do not care at all for "Yours to Hold", "Don't Wake Me", or "Good to be Alive", as they just put a damper on the previous two rock tracks and did nothing emotionally for me. But "Stars" is a very different case: I was surprised to find I really liked this ballad. The electronic elements used gave it a totally new feel, and Cooper's voice actually carried the song very capably. This straight up worship track also boasts some of the best lyrics on the album: "If you can hold the stars in place/You can hold my heart the same/Whenever I fall away/Whenever I start to break/So here I am lifting up my heart/To the one who holds the stars". I hardly ever compliment worship lyrics, but Cooper did a good job of penning ones that felt fresh. This song is one of the unexpected but delightful highlights of the album.

If you were disappointed at this point that there had been no symphonic rock tracks, you will be pleased to hear "I Want to Live". I know so many people criticize Skillet for using this formula over and over again. But when Skillet does the style so well, I understand why they continue to use it. I loved this song from the first time I heard it, as it is distinctly Skillet but also something completely new. Jen's vocals are the real highlight of this song, as they sound particularly amazing here. The track is musically epic. It could've been tiring if Skillet had tried to do another symphonic rock track on "Unleashed", but since this is the only one, it works, and it stands as another highlight. But my personal favorite song from this album is undoubtedly "Out of Hell". I was blown away when I heard this song, as it brings to mind their "Collide" album- that's right, Skillet actually plays a song that is closer to hard rock/metal. I never thought I'd be able to say that again, but I'm so happy I can. The guitar riffs are impressive here, and there is a wonderfully done guitar solo that is probably the best solo on any Skillet song. Cooper's gruff vocals work here more than anywhere else. To make things even better, this song boasts the best lyrics on the album, as Cooper passionately cries for God to save him from his sins: "I'm suffocating waiting for you/Cause the Angels don't fly down here/I need you because no one else/Can you get me out of hell". This song is an absolute gem and rivals any of my other favorite Skillet songs, and really lifts "Unleashed" quite a bit.

"Watching for Comets" is another ballad, and much like with "Stars", I was a little apprehensive about it. But once again, it's actually a highlight. This relationship-centric song uses comets as a metaphor for a lost relationship, which is pretty deep for Skillet's often easily interpreted lyrics. When Cooper says "You were a comet and I lost it" it feels like it has a lot of weight attached to it. I don't usually say there's something to analyze in a Skillet song, but there is actually is here. Musically this song is solid, and the electronic elements serve it well much like in "Stars". The final track "The Resistance" is, in my opinion, the strongest finishing song Skillet has ever done, as it feels epic and powerful in all the right ways. With lyrics like "It’s our world/They can never have it/This is how we rise up/It's our resistance/You can't resist us" it's not hard to imagine the energy this song will undoubtedly have in a live setting. This song accomplishes what "What I Believe" attempted to do in "Rise" (ending the album on an epic note) in a considerably better way. The real cherry on top for this song, though was the unexpected but awesome instrumental outro. The outro is pure adrenaline fuel, and ultimately left me wanting more. "Unleashed" ends off better than any other previous album Skillet has done, and that makes this album feel all the stronger.

Unfortunately, this album is not perfect by any means. There are moments on here that are a bit cliched, and sometimes, straight-up bad. Both "Undefeated" and "Burn it Down" are typical pump-up anthems, and unlike "Feel Invincible", they don't have the musical creativity to make them unique. They're not bad songs, but they just aren't that special and feel more pandered for a sports arena or for live settings. "Lions" is the only ballad on here I did not care for, as Cooper's vocals are bit uneven, sounding smooth in the verses but way too rough in the choruses. Lyrically, this song is pretty bad, with some middle school-level lines like "If we’re gonna fly we fly like eagles/arms out wide/If we’re gonna fear we fear no evil/we will rise". I know Skillet is capable of better, which makes this song a little embarrassing. "Saviors of the World", while certainly sounding good in its electronic rock combination, is questionable theologically as Cooper says everyone can be saviors. I get what he's getting at, that through God we can make a lot of difference, but the way it's worded could definitely be interpreted wrong by the unsuspecting listener. The worst song on here, though (and probably the only one I'll actively skip on repeat listens) is "Famous". Skillet attempted a dance pop song here, and it just doesn't work. The chorus is used way too often, and the bridge has some of the worst lyrics Skillet has made: "Make make you famous/From NYC to Texas to the coast of LA/From way down under onto London/They’ll remember your name". The song just doesn't work in any facet, and the subject of making God famous is done in the worst way possible.

Still, even with the down points of this album, "Unleashed" is a vast improvement over "Rise" and "Awake", and feels like the follow-up to "Comatose" everyone was looking for. It gave the fans what they wanted: an album with mainly fun songs and an unabashed rock feel. And for the most part, that is not a bad thing by any means. So many songs here deliver, and just add up to make for a solid album, where even the worst moments don't hinder the album much (with the exception of "Famous" and "Lions"). And in the midst of the fun, there were a lot of songs with more serious weight on them and some surprisingly great ballads. I'll definitely be coming back to this album, as I just enjoyed it a lot. It's good to have you back Skillet, and in your best form for quite some time!

Favorite Songs: "Out of Hell", "The Resistance", "Stars", "Feel Invincible", "I Want to Live", "Watching for Comets"
Least Favorite Songs: "Famous", "Lions", "Saviors of the World", "Undefeated"