The reviews are in for hesitant movie goers wanting details about Paramount’s recent cinematic interpretation of Noah in advance of the March 28th opening date. The 138-minute movie is a creation of Darren Aronofsky who brought the world Pi and Black Swan. The movie has an impressive cast lineup including: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, Mark Margolis, and Kevin Durand. Recently released mixed reviews have proven to be insightful.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Todd McCarthy recently wrote, “Whereas for a century most Hollywood filmmakers have tread carefully and respectfully when tackling biblical topics in big-budget epics aimed at a mass audience, [Darren] Aronofsky has been daring, digging deep to develop a bold interpretation of a tale which, in the original, offers a lot of room for speculation and invention.”

Screendaily’s Tim Grierson shared the following:

“Intrigued by the Noah story since childhood, Aronofsky has clearly poured his soul into this big-budget undertaking, using the clout of his commercial and critical hit Black Swan to make a movie that’s far more introspective and despairing than the usual popcorn epic. And yet, Noah mostly proves frustratingly ponderous, an anomaly in Aronofsky’s career that has been marked by films full of bravura flourishes and imaginative storytelling. To be fair, Aronofsky and co-writer Ari Handel have greatly expanded the Noah narrative, not just focusing on the preamble to the ark’s construction but also the aftereffects of the Great Flood, but they fail to come up with characters or scenarios that are all that captivating.”

According to Variety’s Chief Film Critic Scott Foundas, Noah could be classified as a risky endeavor for present film studios. In a recent review, Foundas wrote:

“Whatever comes of “Noah” (which opens this weekend in several foreign markets, including Mexico, a week ahead of its March 28 domestic launch), the film certainly ranks alongside “The Great Gatsby” and “Gravity” as one of the riskiest director-driven passion projects to be gambled on by today’s ever more cautious major studios.. If Aronofsky’s $130 million, 137-minute movie ultimately feels compromised at all, it’s less by studio interference than by its director’s own desire to make a metaphysical head movie that is also an accessible action blockbuster. “Noah” does not always sit easily astride those competing impulses, but it is never less than fascinating, and sometimes dazzling, in its ambitions.”

Foundas went on to add that, “Noah rarely disappoints, commencing with the building of the ark itself. Designed by production designer Mark Friedberg (and built, to the actual dimensions specified by the Bible, on a New York soundstage), it is an awesome thing.”

Noah has me excited .reviews are great from what I've read .#aronofsky is a risk taker.

— Maria Mouskos (@Maria_Mouskos) March 22, 2014

Image Via Wikimedia Commons