Well, the scenery was nice, but I felt like I was watching a Christmas card. This movie un-self-consciously puts every Christmas Card and black velvet painting cliché right there on the screen (so as not to upset those who expect nothing less, I'm sure).
Herod, as awful a guy as I'm sure he was, was given far too much screen time, and the Magi - don't get me started on the Magi.
For characters whose number, names and exact professions are not offered in any Gospel, the Magi are way, way overplayed. These guys were bit players in the original Christmas story. In this version, they are not only stars with almost equal billing as the real main characters, they are put in the Disneyesque role of comic relief. And their lab looks like Dumbledore's office in Harry Potter.
And not only do we get the "correct" number of Magi (three), we are offered their traditional names and conventional costumes. Presumably, the production designer didn't want to work too hard to put these guys on the screen - others have spent centuries figuring out what they should look like - why mess with success? Just crib the look from any nearby painting, Christmas card or Christmas story cartoon, and you're done.
Overall, this thing seems to be trying too hard to satisfy a presumed expectation of visual fidelity with the conventional Nativity story imagery, and to avoid offending anyone. The result is a slow, plodding story, with one-dimensional characters and no drama, even the drama we expect.
Don't bother. Read the Gospel version of the story. Spend a few minutes imagining what Mary and Joseph must have *really* gone through, and tell your own story. It'll be far better.
Herod, as awful a guy as I'm sure he was, was given far too much screen time, and the Magi - don't get me started on the Magi.
For characters whose number, names and exact professions are not offered in any Gospel, the Magi are way, way overplayed. These guys were bit players in the original Christmas story. In this version, they are not only stars with almost equal billing as the real main characters, they are put in the Disneyesque role of comic relief. And their lab looks like Dumbledore's office in Harry Potter.
And not only do we get the "correct" number of Magi (three), we are offered their traditional names and conventional costumes. Presumably, the production designer didn't want to work too hard to put these guys on the screen - others have spent centuries figuring out what they should look like - why mess with success? Just crib the look from any nearby painting, Christmas card or Christmas story cartoon, and you're done.
Overall, this thing seems to be trying too hard to satisfy a presumed expectation of visual fidelity with the conventional Nativity story imagery, and to avoid offending anyone. The result is a slow, plodding story, with one-dimensional characters and no drama, even the drama we expect.
Don't bother. Read the Gospel version of the story. Spend a few minutes imagining what Mary and Joseph must have *really* gone through, and tell your own story. It'll be far better.