Taking on a film of biblical proportions isn’t easy. Especially when you’re a moody, ‘serious’, and acclaimed director like Darren Aronofsky, responsible for masterpieces like Requiem for a Dream (starring this year’s Best Supporting Actor Jared Leto) or Natalie Portman’s Oscar-winning performance in 2010’s Black Swan. And there are not that many iconic Hollywood films based on the Bible: Ten Commandments, made over 50 years ago and played religiously every Passover/Easter, still stands out as the dominating example. So when Aronofsky chose to take on the mammoth project known as Noah, it had more than a few heads scratching.

The result is not in any way what anyone would have expected, which is both good and bad. The filmmakers behind Noah made some pretty bold decisions when telling this ancient story, bringing elements of fantasy and even sci-fi into the mix: the film suggests an **SPOILER ALERT!!!** advanced civilization, with machinery and technology, that is wiped out by a flood brought on by a (seemingly) extraterrestrial but unseen ‘Creator’. There are even fallen angel creatures, made of rock and stone, who help Noah and his family build the Ark! It’s like Bible-Sci-Fi. Bible-fi. #BiFi! **END OF SPOILER.** But even though it’s refreshing to see the director take things in a surprising direction, it’s a very difficult direction to sustain. Anyone with even a basic knowledge of the Bible will probably laugh out loud at least once.

But just maybe, Darren Aronofsky wants us to laugh. You wouldn’t know it from the cast though, who all give intense, energetic performances. Jennifer Connelly and Emma Watson especially stand out here: after her impressive turn as a valley girl in last year’s Bling Ring, here’s hoping Emma starts getting the positive critical attention she deserves. Logan Lerman, for his part, does his best with a stinted storyline: as middle brother Ham, he desperately wants but ultimately fails to find a young maiden to rescue on the Ark, so that he can continue his family’s bloodline (his brother Shem, played by the cute but very light-footed Douglas Booth, shacks up with Emma’s character after they find her wounded and alone as a young girl).

All in all, the fable told here is original and inventive, but also incredibly heavy-handed and at times a little silly. The animal sequences are of course dazzling, but also very minor—the moment the wildlife boards the vessel, they are immediately put to sleep thanks to Noah and his wife’s herbal mixtures. Clearly, the story here centers on the humans and not the animals, which might feel rather disappointing. It is also very curious how little is seen of the flood itself: the cataclysmic destruction is only felt indirectly, via the cries of the drowning heard from within the Ark itself. As for what is seen in the film, many of the visuals leave a lot to be desired: the opening titles look very pedestrian, and the fallen angels recall elementary Claymation (this nostalgic feeling may have been intended by the director, but this film is still a far cry from the subtlety of something like Spike Jonze’s Where The Wild Things Are).

—DH