Get your feet wet Upon a terrifying nightmare that is clearly an omen, Noah(a roaring and fanatically determined Crowe), along with his family, begin building an ark. They get some unexpected help, but will it be enough? Especially when the king of the land(Winstone at his most vile, representing the wickedness of our species) shows up with his army, threatening that if that boat is the only safe place, they will board it one way or another.
Causing controversy from before anyone had watched it, this is a non-literal update-for-our-times take on the Bible story, that nevertheless seeks to engage with the same, genuinely universal, values – honestly, everything added here is not only critical to even make it a feature length drama(such as adding a present, physical form to the evil that is being drowned out, as it were), it serves to flesh out what was already there. This is aggressively environmental, thus rendering it highly relevant; the Earth(which could be 1000 years in the past, or the future) is here a barren, post-apocalyptic wasteland, and while it could have been made clearer, the idea is that excessive and relentless mining of resources is the cause. Not only are we beyond rescuing, the storm that will come will deliver water sorely needed to reinvigorate nature.
This has everything we've come to expect from Aronofsky: solid production values in every aspect, with a solid, and nicely limited(so that there is room for them all to represent some element endemic to us Homo Sapiens, and this is very much a character study of our titular protagonist, and an examination of humanity) cast, a compelling Clint Mansell score, and, of course, amazing(and all with a distinct purpose, artistically) visuals(the desperation of a dying breed is one of the images that will stick with you, something that is in everything Darren has helmed), employing techniques not often seen in the mainstream, including silhouette(such as a brief and stunning extrapolation of Cain) and time-lapse photography(the construction process itself). If you at all intend to watch this, and your first viewing is not a 3D showing, you will be committing a cardinal sin.
There is a lot of brutal, gory, violent and disturbing content and some sexuality in this, none of it gratuitous. I recommend this to anyone not put off by it being based on a Genesis account or the fact that it takes liberties with it. 7/10
