"Noah" - 2.5 stars out of 4 (C+)

Hollywood likes to give indie directors a chance to helm large pictures. Maybe this occurs because the studios appreciate the talent and expertise that these directors show with small budgets. Maybe it is simply that there is a dearth of directors in the running for productions. Often it is a mistake for both the director and the studio. The director has often made a career of making artistically challenging films and now much orchestrate something for bosses who demand ticket sales over quality. Jean-Pierre Jeunet followed up the visually captivating The City of Lost Children with the ridiculous Alien Resurrection, killing the franchise. David Lynch followed up Eraserhead and The Elephant Man with Dune, a critical and box office failure. Now the money bags have been placed in Darren Aronofsky's hands. His last film was 2010's Black Swan, a disturbing and challenging film that brought in money and acclaim. It was only a matter of time until Aronofsky was given a big production. Noah is a $150 million dollar epic retelling of the biblical story and much like Alien Resurrection and Dune it is a film that alternates between artistically challenging moments and events that only seemed to be included to please test audiences. It is inevitable that Aronofsky would have to tone down his material to appease someone. This inevitability doesn't make it any less disappointing or upsetting as we get occasional glimpses of the brilliance that could of been had concessions not been made.

Noah (Russell Crowe) roams a world that doesn't look too far-removed from the post-apocalyptic wastelands we have seen in many movies over the last couple of years. Food and vegetation are scarce leading many to take to cannibalism. Groups of marauders kill whatever they want and often eat it afterwards. Noah unwavering belief in his Creator has influenced him and his family to only use violence to defend themselves and to abstain from hurting plants or eating animals  One night Noah has a disturbing vision in his sleep one night. The ground starts erupting with water holding him suspended and unable to breathe. His unshaking belief in his Creator leads Noah to believe that this is a prophecy of what will occur. Noah sees this upcoming flood as a cleansing of the evil which will leave only the truly innocent: the animals. He and his family band together to create an ark, a giant ship that will house two of each animal. Noah must protect those he loves from the ever-growing human threat and also deal with the internal struggle from knowing that his ark may save the animals and his family but would damn the rest of mankind to a violent death.

There are moments of brilliance littered throughout Noah. Aronofsky has made a career of directed disturbing yet beautiful movies. There are flourishes throughout the film that remind us that this is the same Aronofsky that directed 2000's Requiem for a Dream and 2006's The Fountain. Noah is at it's best when it is at it's most simple. Quick flashing images of visions. Characters contemplating what they must do and knowing what will happen as a result of their actions. Dark moments of graphic and brutal violence. Noah would have been a great movie had it simply stuck to simplicity. While the visual effects are nice and the swelling score aptly epic, Aronofsky is not a director who needs large set-pieces to tell a compelling and deep story. These moments of intimacy are where the heart of Noah appears. They are almost enough to make me recommend the film. These are scenes most, if not all, big-budget filmmakers would never go near. Their risky inclusion should be championed.

Another risky inclusion is the addition of the Watchers, large creatures made of rock that play a major part in Noah's life. They resemble a cross between the tree-like Ents of Lord of the Rings and a Transformer if they were re-imagined by Ray Harryhausen. While they might be one of the most "creative license" additions to the story (a passing mention in the original talks of giants existing but makes no mention of "giant creatures made out of rock") they are expertly well-designed. The herky-jerky, almost stop-motion appearance feels like something out of Clash of the Titans. Film goers have become so accustomed to shiny yet empty computer-generated creatures that the sight of them is oddly comforting. When you get over the feeling that a stone Optimus Prime is going to help Noah, they become some of the most interesting characters in the film.

The moments of dark desperation are where Noah succeeds the most. At the core, the story is depressing. Noah must build an ark to save his family from the end-of-the-world brought on by man's volleys. A scene where Noah sits in the ark hearing the screams of those being ravaged by the floods is a deep and poignant moment. The brutality of the other inhabitants of the land is also shocking. In one sequence, an animal is thrown into a crowd of starving people and they tear it apart in the air. There is a sense of dread to these scenes you don't see often in film, let alone big-budget epics.

Unfortunately, there are just as many moments of out-and-out banal stupidity in Noah that almost destroy the wonderful moments. The inclusion of a villain in the form of head marauder Tubal Cain (Ray Winstone) is ridiculous. When you have a movie that already has roving bands of cannibals and the prophecy of total world annihilation, you don't need an angry bearded baddie. Tubal Cain's character reeks of a studio saying "But... you need a villain. Who else is Noah going to have to defeat in the last act?" Any scene with Winstone seems like you accidentally turned the channel to an episode of Vikings.

The fact is that Noah is the only interesting human character in the film. Crowe is given some great solo moments where he must consider if what he is doing is truly right or insane. The rest of the cast suffers though. His wife Naameh (Jennifer Connelly) is given very little to do besides look concerned and be uncomfortable by a legion of snakes as they enter the ark. If you lived in a time full of the threat of cannibals and the impending end-of-the-world you would think slithery creatures would be the least of your worries. Ila (Emma Watson) is the token female love interest for Noah's son Shem (Douglas Booth). We know very little of Ila except she can't have kids and Shem desperately wants to put one inside her. Noah's other son Ham (Logan Lerman) is almost interesting as he struggles to find his purpose in his current life and the life after the flood. Unfortunately, Lerman is given little more than looking slightly creepy. It is almost as if he was trying to do a Paul Dano impersonation but didn't feel like fully committing to it. Anthony Hopkins plays Methuselah, Noah's grandfather who is capable of performing miracles. At this point Hopkins seems to be playing essentially the same character and only altering the length of his beard and hairstyle. While he isn't bad, he doesn't quite give off the aura of a powerful and magical individual that the story tries to sell.

The uneven nature of Noah makes me give it the weakest of recommendations. At the very least, it is a curious film that takes impressive and brilliant risks almost as often as it falls flat on it's face. It is worth seeing just to get in the discussion. Some will no doubt be able to overlook some of the problems and savor it for the moments of artistic and gutsy film-making. Just as many will be disappointed in the "creative license" and wonder why in the world Noah is being aided by a Rockbiter from The Neverending Story. In the end though, nobody will end up with what they truly want. They will either end up with a half-full or half-empty world of water.