Star Rating:

Risen

Director: Kevin Reynolds

Actors: Cliff Curtis

Release Date: Friday 18th March 2016

Genre(s): Action

Running time: 107 minutes

Retellings of biblical stories from unique perspectives aren't anything new, however confining them into a genre - detective thriller or sometimes even comedy - is a relatively new feature. Risen tells of the investigation of the resurrection of Jesus, here known as Yeshua (Cliff Curtis), by two Roman officers (Fiennes, Felton). Fiennes' character has brutally suppressed a rebellion, taken part in Yeshua's crucifixion and is now ready to relax when Pontius Pilate orders him to find the body of Yeshua, believing it to have been carried off by his disciples.

The story progresses at a fairly sharp pace and Fiennes' character is able to pull us along with an interesting story - even if we know the outcome of it. The script, written by Kevin Reynolds, gives a reasonably entertaining insight into how it can happen that a rag-tag group can turn into a world-dominating religion.

However, it's in the finale of the second act and beginning of the third that Risen begins to lose its quality. The hack-handed way it handles meeting Yeshua / Jesus for the first time is almost reminiscent of Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur. It's a shame because, up until that point, Fiennes does a very decent job of making us believe that he's essentially a cynic doing a job that's been hoisted upon him by his superiors. Cliff Curtis, who plays Yeshua / Jesus, has all the gravitas you'd expect for someone playing the role, but it's all just a little bit too twee and saccharine to be taken seriously.

Overall, it's an interesting premise but there's not much here to keep anyone outside of the faithful interested.