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Summary: The Passion of The Christ focusses on the last twelve hours of Jesus of Nazareth's life. The film begins in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus has gone to pray after sitting the Last Supper. Jesus must resist the temptations of Satan. Betrayed by Judas Iscariot, Jesus is then arrested and taken within the city walls of Jerusalem where leaders of the Pharisees confront him with accusations of blasphemy and his trial results in a condemnation to death. (imdb)
Cavielzel plays the best Jesus to date, and overall this film has me very split. Of course it's gory and controversial, but it really does accomplish what it sets out to do; portray the final hours of Jesus. I'd suggest putting aside your religious beliefs for 2 hours, refuse to be manipulated, and just feel the emotion that is set in this story because in all honesty it is one hell of a film. Also, (kind of eerie) Cavielzel was struck by a bolt of lightening during filming. Twice.
To quote South Park: Say what you want about Mel Gibson, but the son of a bitch knows story structure! A movie about Jesus that begins with a "based on a true story" sign, doesn't get a lot of initial goodwill from my side. That said the movie is an extremely well executed and beautifully shot Jezploitation flick, even though it's a bit difficult to take it serious when the blood splatters all around and the poor jesus fall YET AGAIN, head first and in slowmotion, walking up Golgotha .
As Marisa Tomei puts it in "The Wrestler" - "they beat the fuck out of him for two hours, and he just takes it." It's definitely self-indulgent, and plenty manipulative, but if you shut your brain off and don't view it through your own biased glasses, you can find enjoyment in the message and the aesthetic.
OK, I give this movie a 50 based on one thing, makeup and effects. If you like gore this is the king of well done gore. Other than that it's a hooribly poor story with no real message out of context.
Extremely powerful and emotion-driven. Dominated by blood and gore, driven forward by shock value. This is not a movie for the faint of heart, and one could argue as to its realism.