Movie Monday: Reviewing God’s Not Dead

Aside from being such a booknerd, I'm also a self-confessed movie junkie so I thought, I'll finally make my movie reviews a blog feature. Well, I've posted movie reviews here already before but this time, I solemnly swear I'll never go hiatus again... To formally launch my Movie Monday, my review today is (drum roll please)... God's Not Dead.

Photo from DVD Release Dates

PLOT:

 

Josh Wheaton (Shane Harper), a Christian college student, enrolls in a philosophy class taught by Professor Jeffrey Radisson (Kevin Sorbo), an atheist, who demands that his students sign a declaration that "God is dead" to get a passing grade. Josh is the only student in the class who refuses to sign and is then required by Radisson to debate the topic with him, with the class members deciding who wins.

Radisson gives Josh 20 minutes at the end of the first three lecture sessions to argue that God exists. In the first two debates, Radisson has counter arguments for all of Josh's points. Josh's girlfriend Kara (Cassidy Gifford) breaks up with him, fearing that standing up to Radisson will jeopardize their academic future. Ultimately, it comes down to the third and final debate between Radisson and Josh, who again both make compelling points. Josh then halts his line of debate to pose a question to Radisson: "Why do you hate God?" After Josh repeats the question twice more, Radisson explodes in rage, confirming he hates God for his mother's death that left him alone despite his prayers. Josh then casually asks 

Radisson how he can hate someone that doesn't exist. In the end, Martin (Paul Kwo), a foreign exchange student whose father had encouraged him not to convert to Christianity, stands up and says "God's not dead." Almost the entire class follows Martin's lead, causing Radisson to leave the room in defeat.

Against the backdrop of the debates, a series of peripherally related subplots develop. Radisson dates Mina (Cory Oliver), a Christian whom he often belittles in front of his fellow atheist colleagues. Her brother Mark (Dean Cain), a successful businessman and atheist, refuses to visit their mother, who suffers from dementia. Mark's girlfriend, Amy (Trisha LaFache), is a left-wing blogger who writes articles critical of Duck Dynasty. When she is diagnosed with cancer, Mark dumps her. A Muslim student named Ayisha (Hadeel Sittu) secretly converts to Christianity and is disowned by her family when they find out.

After the final debate, Josh invites Martin to attend the Newsboys concert that is in town. Radisson reads a letter from his late mother, and is moved to reconcile with Mina. Amy confronts the Newsboys in their dressing room, only to admit that she wants to get to know God. While on his way to find Mina, Radisson is struck by a car and fatally injured. Reverend Dave (David A. R. White) finds him and guides him in becoming a Christian as he dies. Mark at last visits his mother, only to taunt her; she responds that all of his financial success was given to him by Satan.

As the film ends, the Newsboys play a video clip of Willie Robertson congratulating Josh. The Newsboys then play their song "God's Not Dead", dedicating it to Josh.

~~~Plot from Wikipedia~~~


The Trailer:

My Review:
 

I first saw this movie at G2G.FM, my online movie best friend. Why? Because if you are looking for high quality movies or TV shows, it’s the best site for you. All movies and TV shows are absolutely downloadable for free and you don’t need to sign up anymore.(ehemm..Seriously, G2G should give me some talent fee for endorsing them)

Ok, so that’s it. I saw the cover photo of a guy writing NOT on a GOD’S DEAD vandalism on a wall. That got me really curious. Why would they put a vandalism like that?

See? Even Elena Gilbert is curious.. he-he

So there’s this Christian college guy who insisted on enrolling on a Philosophy class even when he was already warned to transfer to another class and on the first day of the class, the bomb was revealed to him. His professor is an Atheist and admires the famous philosophers who were Atheist. The professor declares on the class that God is a myth and convinces the whole class to write in a piece of a paper the words God is Dead with their signs on it in order to be officially admitted in his class. I was like …. 

Is he joking??

What kind of Professor does that? People are entitled to their own beliefs and no one has the right to do something ridiculous about it just because you have a different belief. Not even if you are a super intelligent Professor.

Maybe if I was on that class, I will just walk out, flip my hair and say “God is so much alive and I’m having the best life ever because of Him.”However, Josh had a different approach. He honestly told the Professor that he will not write the God’s Dead paper and he will not drop the class. I was honestly impressed by that bravery. So in order to pass the subject, the Professor told him to counter his claim and prove to the class that God is not dead. He even insisted that he will be the one to judge if his claim is acceptable and if not, he will fail Josh. I was furious watching that scene. The Professor was smirking while saying it like he is really sure about the outcome. In the end, they came up with the idea that his classmates will be the jury since everyone has already passed their “God’s Dead” paper except for him. It’s just a matter of convincing his classmates that what they wrote is incorrect.

Way to Go Josh!!!

The whole thing was absolutely difficult and everyone say that Josh is crazy for putting his self into the situation when he could’ve just write the paper just for the sake of that class. Even his girlfriend dumped him for his decision and say that he isn’t serious about his future. For me, as a Christian, I think it’s the most serious decision ever. It’s not easy to stand firm in our faith when everything around us push us down. In Josh's 3 lectures, there are lots of things discovered like the connection of science and creation. It’s very informative and inspiring. My favorite part is the 3^rd lecture when Josh and the Professor had a heated argument which forced the Professor to admit that he hated God and Peter asked the winning question…"How can you hate someone who doesn't exist?"

I was literally carried away that I shouted “Booo” at the Professor. Ha-ha.

I love how the writers and creators of this movie have presented it in a way that presents the “EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON” theme with all the characters’ connection to each one of them especially in the ending.

Plus, here’s the great news. Oh! Did I just say News? He-he.. Yes because Newsboys is in the movie as they play the official soundtrack of the movie in a concert that is also part of the movie.

This deserves 5 star ratings. (I mean popcorn)