Film Preview: Noah (2014)

Poster

Trailer Link

Release Date:

March 28, 2014

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “The Biblical Noah suffers visions of an apocalyptic deluge and takes measures to protect his family from the coming flood.”

Poster: B / C- / C (2) / C (7) / C+ / C

Review: An epic unlike every other epic you’ve never seen. For being a film by a creative filmmaker, this design is surprisingly unexciting.

(#2-#11) The second design is a bit inert, suggesting perhaps a series of character posters that were never finalized. The next two posters fit into a standard design aesthetic for Hollywood epics, one American, one French. Following that are 7, relatively indistinct character posters that share a theme but are otherwise unexceptional.

(#12 & #13) The twelfth design is an adaptation of poster #3, changing the background color. Thirteen takes the left-facing Russell Crowe facial pose used frequently in these designs and adds a new background, which isn’t particularly inspired.

Trailer: B+

Review: This is one of those movies that looks exciting on paper, but has the potential to be utterly terrible in execution. The trailer makes the film seem like it might be quite thrilling, but knowing the history behind the film gives me less optimism.

Oscar Prospects:

It will be one of 2014’s biggest spectacles, so it’s sure to be a contender for Production Design, Costume Design, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing and Visual Effects. Darren Aronofsky isn’t always in Oscar’s good graces in spite of the appearances Black Swan created. Mix in the studio-director arguments over tone and expectation and the film is likely to disappoint some: Aronofsky faithfuls or the religious community and with a film like Noah, the religious community is likely to win out.