While NarniaFans is a primarily a website devoted to CS Lewis and The Chronicles of Narnia, not only do we love to share the works of other authors who were lovingly inspired by his works, or those of his contemporaries like JRR Tolkien, we also love sharing with our readers news concerning faith-based films that we are certain our readers will enjoy too, especially when it appears as if they can tap into the “Deeper Magic of Narnia” , and more importantly sneak past watchful dragons and convey that story to a whole new generation as CS Lewis did before.
This Easter Season, one such movie hits theaters. From Angel Studios, the company behind such hits as The Sound of Freedom, Cabrini, Bonhoeffer, His Only Son, The Shift, and The WingFeather Saga, comes a new animated feature film for the whole family, The King of Kings, an animated retelling of the story of the Life of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
I am delighted to share my review with our readers, and I hope you’ll see the movie.
Summary:
Witness the greatest story ever told in an exciting new way! One Christmas Eve Charles Dickens performs a public reading of A Christmas Carol to an enthralled audience, until his youngest son Walter, eagerly pretending to be King Arthur disrupts the performance. Tensions flare between father and son and in the process part of a manuscript upon which Dickens had been working is ruined. Glancing at the manuscript, Catherine realizes that maybe this story is just what the father and son need.
Returning home, Charles shares with him this story, one about the greatest King whoever lived, one greater than Arthur. Along the way Walter and Charles discover the wonder, majesty, power, and love of this King, The King of Kings, Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Review:
Back during the Christmas holidays, I was helping my mom babysit my nieces and nephews. After much finagling we got them to agree to a double feature: The Star and Journey to Bethlehem. During those three hours the kids were enthralled in these retellings of the birth of Christ, but a funny thing happened each time. My eldest niece, now 9, got worried every time that Herod’s soldiers were going kill baby Jesus. As a result, so too did her younger brother and sister. It was adorable and touching to see how invested they were in this story and how much they loved Baby Jesus, but my mom quickly saw a problem.
As mom said, “Child, there’s still 32 years left before you need to worry about something happening to Jesus!”
The birth of Jesus as wonderous as it may be, is only the first chapter of the much bigger story of His life, death and resurrection. The impact of His teachings on the world is just rendered empty slogans and old philosophies without His birth, death and resurrection. And his Death and Resurrection, needs the story of why and how he came to have any meaning.
Once the kids were picked up mom and I began searching the internet for something special. It occurred to us that there had to be some way to tell the rest of this story to children through film. That’s when we began to wonder what if someone were to find a way to tell the story of the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus in a way that was suitable for children. There had been some older direct to video shorts, and of course VeggieTales, but an actual film seemed elusive.
Enter Angel Studios to correct the deficit. A relative new comer in the entertainment industry they have already made a name for themselves by generating solid content that has caused industry trades to stand up and take notice. Unique to their business model is that all films are picked by fans, and financed by them, now numbering well over a million strong, and those fans called “Angel investors” get full say in the production. For example, if your loyal writers here at Narnia Fans were decided to spear head an adaptation of CS Lewis’s Out of the Silent Planet through them, staring Martin Freeman as Ransom, Ewan McGregor as Divine, John Rhys-Davies as Weston and Idris Elba as the voice of the Oyarsa of Mars, and fans picked that movie, and contributed towards funding it, then that would be the movie we would strive to make. When naysayers on-line tell fans when they think they have better ideas then major studios that if they know so much why don’t they make a movie themselves, Angel Studios actually lets the fans do it.
Their model clearly works as they have managed to attract some top-shelf talent including actors from several high profile films and TV shows including Sean Astin( The Goonies, Rudy, The Lord of the Rings), Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ, The Count of Monty Cristo, Person of Interest,) Neil McDonough (Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Captain America; The First Avenger), Jodi Benson ( The Little Mermaid, Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3, Joseph: King of Dreams), Billy Boyd ( The Lord of the Rings, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,), Matt Lanter ( Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, The Death of Superman, Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Star Wars: The Clone Wars), Henry Ian Cusick ( LOST, The 100, Marvel’s Inhumans), and Kevin McNally ( Pirates of the Caribbean, The Phantom of the Opera, Valkyrie).
The King of Kings boasts talent of equal caliber , the kind of which any major film director or producer would love to have on its call sheet, including Sir Kenneth Branagh ( Death on the Nile, Murder on the Orient Express, Dunkirk, Oppenheimer, Tenet), Uma Thurman (Gatatca, Pulp Fiction, Batman & Robin, Kill Bill vols. 1&2), Forest Whitacker (Platoon, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Arrival, Jingle, Jangle: A Christmas Journey), Oscar Issac(The Nativity Story, Stars Wars: The Force Awakens, X-Men: Apocalypse Dune, Marvel’s Moon Knight, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), Sir Ben Kingsley ( Ghandi, Schindler’s List, Iron Man 3, Marvel’s Shang-Chi), Mark Hamill ( Star Wars, Batman: The Animated Series, Avatar: The Last Airbender), and Pierce Brosnan ( Dante’s Peak, GoldenEye, The Thomas Crowne Affair, Black Adam). I can honestly say that I have not been this impressed with the voice talent for an animated movie based on a story from the Bible since DreamWorks released The Prince of Egypt in 1999. It’s just that good. None of it feels like stunt casting or a gimmick to get you to see the movie, but more like they are trying to cast serious, respected actors in these roles to lend credibility to the production and give it gravitas. They aren’t treating this like a cheap cartoon to serve as bargain bin filler at Wal-Mart, but striving to treat this story with the respect and reverence it deserves, like the biblical epics of old.
Branagh is no stranger to the world of narration, having contributed to a number of audio books including one near and dear to the hearts of friends of Narnia everywhere, CS Lewis’ The Magician’s Nephew. Here, he lends his pipes as the voice of Charles Dickens, one of 19th Century England’s greatest writers and the narrator of our story. Normally I’m apprehensive about films having a narrator. Done wrong, and it can be intrusive and cut into the work that the actors, director, writers and editors are trying to achieve by telling me what they are a thinking and feeling. Done right however it can add the right “spice” to the film’s recipe for success. His Dickens embus the story with life, passion, excitement, heart, and touches of quiet contemplation when appropriate. He even lends his voice to the roles of Joseph during the Nativity story and the voice of God during the baptism. I have not been more enthralled, or entertained by a narrator, or inspired as a storyteller, since Peter Falk sat down to read The Princess Bride.
Further his narration helps the movie maintain a nice pace for the kids. The story of Christ takes up four Gospels and encompasses the span of roughly 33 years. Most biblical epics, such as The Robe, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and the 1966 movie King of Kings with Jeffery Hunter totaled at three hours long, while Franco Zepheilli’s TV miniseries Jesus of Nazareth comes it at a whopping six hours long. Kids have shorter attention spans these days and you have to keep their attention, and our entertaining narrator does exactly that as it enables the viewer to jump ahead in time.
It serves another purpose as well, as during a reading of the story of Christ, there are no shortage of questions a kid could ask, like about some of the cultural differences between 1st Century Judea and today, as well as questions about holidays such as Passover. There are also those ideas that would pop into their head as to how they would respond to a situation, like say, grab a magic sword to defend someone. This allows for Walter, voiced by Roman Griffin Davis, to not only act as a surrogate for the children in the audience, but for Branagh as Dickens to help redirect the story and answer his questions, but to cut to the chase and remind the viewer just who Jesus was and why he came, and that as the True King he didn’t need to use a magic sword to achieve His will, just His obedience to His father. There’s even a great moment when Walter asks why Jesus had to die, and Charles and Catherin pull the family Bible off the shelf to allow Charles to recap the story of the Creation, Temptation and Fall of Man from the book of Genesis, even brilliantly utilizing the classic illustrations by Gustave Dore
Admittedly I know Uma Thurman best for her role as that vixenous Venus Flytrap, Poison Ivy, in Batman & Robin. Thus, any time I see her name attached, I immediately, and at times erroneously expect her to play another sultry siren of the silver screen. Thus, I was amazed and dazzled when she did an excellent job as Catherine Dickens, not only doing a British accent, but holding it the entire time and came across as warm, loving and motherly, and even helped Charles tell the story adding a few affects and voiced a few characters, including the angel and Mary, mother of Jesus. More importantly, it’s Catherine who urges the historically hot-tempered Charles to tell their son the story of the life of Christ, realizing quickly how much they both needed it, not only to teach Charles a lesson in forgiveness and grace, but for their son to realize that there was once a King far greater than Arthur who commands respect, not through conquest of battle, or deeds of daring do, but through His love for humanity.
I was genuinely impressed with Oscar Isaac as Jesus. All too often in animation Jesus can come across as too inhuman, too much like a Sunday School flannelgraph or a marble statue. Isaac portrays his Jesus with the full array of emotions that seemed to be bubbling just below the surface of the text. We sense His world weariness and frustration with the crowds who seem to just want miracles of food and not hear the lifegiving message He has brought them. We feel His grace and compassion and love towards the woman caught in adultery, while His admonition to her to “go and leave your life of sin”, comes across as the loving advice of a loving father who wants what is best for His child. We witness majesty, strength and power in His voice as He walks on the water and summons Lazarus from the grave as all Creation is clearly under His command. We feel His anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane and find strength from His resolve to be obedient to His Father’s will. We sense His resolve when He confronts the money changers in the temple and we even get a hint of snark when He’s confronting the Pharisees, that has no doubt been lost after centuries of translation, but sense the authority behind His rebukes as well. This is a Jesus who feels fully God and fully Man.
Mark Hamill’s turn as Herod the Great was appropriately dark. Perhaps from years of having voiced the Clown Prince of Crime on Batman: The Animated Series he perfectly played the madness of Herod, going from a near Jabba the Hutt voice when he’s dealing with the magi, to a sinister growl when he gives the order to kill the babies in Bethlehem.
Forest Whitaker makes for a great apostle Peter. True to the meaning of his name, “Rock” this Peter feels tough, sturdy, like a seasoned old sea dog whose weathered his share of storms, and dealt with his hard times. During a particular exciting scene on the Sea of Galilee we even see Peter take command in the boat like the expert sailor he is and try to steer it right, giving each disciple orders on how to keep the ship afloat. Thus, it makes it all the more heart wrenching when he denies he knows Jesus, a this was a man who appeared so strong, so dedicated, so certain, and yet like any of us, cracked under immense pressure.
Pierce Brosnan and Sir Ben Kingsley bring gravitas to their supporting roles as Pontius Pilate and Caiaphas respectively. Brosnan’s Pilate feels appropriately tired, frustrated, and is trying to do his best to keep the peace, and genuinely seems to see no fault in Jesus, while Kingsley’s Caiaphas is less of a tried old man and more of a jealous, conniving rival, calculating how to remove his opponent and annoyed that those around him didn’t seem to consider the easiest and most obvious choice to deal with Him.
Rounding up the cast are some of the most gifted and versatile voice actors in the business, including Dee Bradly Baker (Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Avatar: The Last Airbender), James Arnold Taylor (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Atlantis: Milo’s Return, The Spectacular Spider-Man), Fred Tatascorie, ( Wolverine and the X-Men, Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes) Vanessa Marshall ( The Spectacular Spider-Man, Young Justice, Star Wars Rebels), and Jim Cummings (Darkwing Duck, Goof Troop, The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh).From Vanessa Marhsall’s heartbreaking sobs as she pleads with Jesus for Lazarus as Mary of Bethany, to the likes of Taylor, Tatascorie, and Cummings who perform multiple characters with distinction, these actors more then held their own with the big names in the cast. I even detected traces of Taylor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi voice as Matthew, perfect for a more upper-class of society disciple.
Appropriately a number of the supporting cast even gets to lend their pipes to Legion, creating a frightening and unearthly sound for a character that in the wrong hands could come across as a poor man’s Gollum. Hamill even appears to do his best Emperor Palpatine voice as the devil during the Temptation of Christ. Special mention, however has to go to Cummings for his incredibly soulful uncredited performance as the repentant thief on the cross. I never thought the man who made my child hood as the voices of Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Fat Cat, Don Karnage and Darkwing Duck could create such a moving performance, but it was honestly one of the finest I’ve ever heard of that heartbreaking scene.
While the animation is CGI, the character designs featured in The King of Kings have a look that retains an almost “anime-esque” feel with the style and textures almost reminiscent of the stop motion figures in the old Rankin/Bass specials giving the film an almost warm, “hand-made” quality, but with the fluidity that can only come through computer animation. And the special effect shots for some of the scenes, like the storm when Peter walks on the water to Jesus? This is not only on par with the best of the classic biblical epics like The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur, or Prince of Egypt, it’s on the level with what we see in recent animated movies like Frozen, Moana, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, or Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
As the story unfolds Walter’s caught up in the wonder and awe of the story, to the point that he feels like he and his father are inside the story just as we all are when we first heard it told to us. Thus, when the film reaches final moments upon which Jesus is crucified on the cross, I cried. I can’t help but admit that not since The Passion of the Christ have I been this moved by a retelling of the story of the Death and Resurrection of my Savior. The fact it’s told through the eyes of a child who has grown to love Jesus makes it all the more poignant. Charles and Catherine tell Walter the story of Christ in order to introduce him to a King Greater than Arthur, one who inspired the Arthur legend, and we see why. I was reminded of what CS Lewis wrote in a letter to a concerned mother regarding her sons love for Aslan, and how he responded it was a good thing, because her son loved in Aslan what was in Christ and so to did Walter love in Arthur what could be found in Christ. Aslan, King Arthur, Aragorn, Mufasa, Superman, we love these characters because of how they reflect the story of Christ and point us closer to Him.
In a particularly moving moment after Jesus dies we see a beautiful montage of earlier scenes, from the healing of the man born blind, to the casting out of Legion, to the rising of Lazarus, to even saving Peter on the waves, all from Walters point of view underscoring how in Christ we can all find healing and freedom, and through him Death has no meaning as He took our place not just on the Cross, but the grave and through taking His hand and accepting His sacrifice we all may have new life. Then at the very end, Walter becomes a witness to the Resurrection, just as we all are, and upon hearing the story told, he immediately wakes his brother and sister to tell the story to them. To top it all off the end credits appropriately show case Jesus’ post-Resurrection appearances culminating in His Ascension, reminding us that the Greatest Story Ever Told, never really ends. It still goes on, and we have the privilege to live it, and share it with others.
Walter understands, especially with a father who was one of the world’s greatest story tellers just how powerful stories can be. Stories inspire us, and bring us together. They encourage us to embrace our better angels and shun the darkness. They impart to us of virtues like courage, honor, bravery, trust, friendship, and self-sacrifice. They remind us that good can in fact one day triumph over evil. More importantly they’re a way of sharing truths with the next generation.
Angel Studios The King of Kings is not only a great animated movie, and a wonderful and moving way of telling the story of the Life of Jesus Christ to the next generation, but it’s a celebration of the power of great story telling and how stories, especially the Greatest Story Ever Told, have the power to transform our lives and shape us into better people, if we let them. I can’t wait to share this telling of the story of Jesus Christ with my nieces and nephews!
Disney, Netflix, I hope you’re taking notes. THIS is how you retell a classic tale, beloved by millions, for a new generation to discover: with heart, warmth, creativity, cutting edge animation, excellent direction and writing, fidelity to the text, and pitch perfect casting choices. Thank you, Angel Studios. We will be watching your career with great interest. More please!
Five out of Five Shields.
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