Noah (2014) Review - Dylan McCully

Written by Dylan McCully, 10/16/22

Noah is the oddball in the filmography of Darren Aronofsky. A big budget studio movie with A-Listers like Russell Crowe, Anthony Hopkins and Emma Watson is the opposite of the raw realism of The Wrestler or the creativity of Black Swan. It felt very studio heavy and lacked Aronofsky's voice and vision.

The plot of this movie is an extended version of the old biblical tale: Noah's Ark. Although it is only four chapters of the Bible, more details about Noah's family and upbringing are told. Noah, played by Russell Crowe, has visions and comes to the realization that we need a Great Flood, as we all do from time to time. His grandfather Methuselah, played by Anthony Hopkins, gives him a seed from Eden, which grows into a forest, convincing people to help Noah on his quest. The dude trying to stop Noah's Ark from happening is Tubalcain, played by Ray Winstone, but we all know that he won't do anything because we all know how the story ends.

This movie is a slog to sit through and looks like a generic 2010's blockbuster. The acting isn't bad, and the visuals aren't awful, they're just restrained. Aronofsky is known for some of his creative techniques, but those were mostly suppressed by the studio here. One cool shot that does happen is from the point of view of a rain drop that falls on Russell Crowe's face, but stuff like that is few and far between. I can't see Aronofsky doing a big budget blockbuster like this again, which is why Mother! and The Whale feel more like a director's vision, not a generic nothingness of a movie. The reason Aronofsky made this is because of a poem he wrote when he was thirteen. Hopefully he didn't write too many other poems. 2/10

Aronofsky Ranking: 1. The Wrestler (2008) - 8/10 2. Requiem for a Dream (2000) - 7/10 3. Black Swan (2010) - 6.5/10 4. The Fountain (2006) - 5.5/10 5. Pi (1998) - 5.5/10 6. Noah (2014) - 2/10