The Passion of the Christ: Bigger, Longer and Uncut
by Matt Giwer, © 2004 [Dec]

As far behind the times as I usually am I finally saw it. I now see what all the hoopla was about. I now see it was all contrived to promote the movie. I hope the Jewish groups that organized to attack it were paid enough by Gibson for the free advertising.

I can hinge this on two issues. The first is derivative. The second is the much vaunted realism isn't.

It got to sending Jesus to Herod and his court was portrayed right out of Jesus Christ, Superstar. At that point I was ready to stop it and put on the real JCS instead of the copy. The characters were right out of JCS but it needed the music.

One thing we learned from the scourging of Jesus, his secret is he did not bleed. When his flesh was ripped it turned red. And somehow there was blood spatter on the ground. But he did not bleed. Instant coagulation. He would have died from blood loss before the scourging was half finished. So much for realism.

Maybe it is because it is the first new Easter movie in decades that it made an impression. Maybe because it is the first that is seriously bloody. But most likely because the press releases were contrived in the best Hollywood fashion. The last is not a maybe. It is a fact.

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