Christian movies seem to be popular recently. Starting with the Bible miniseries on the History channel and going into more recent movies like God’s Not Dead, or Son Of God. Also coming out later this year is Heaven is for Real.

So you might be surprised to learn that Noah is not a Christian movie. It is directed by Darren Aronofsky who is famous for Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan. While this movie might not reach the mindbending weirdness of those films, it is an oddity in its own right.

Those who were looking for a word for word direct adaptation of the famous Bible story might be disappointed to learn that it is in fact a creative reimagining with major story changes. It is not the actual Bible story, but rather a story inspired by the Bible story. Sure, all the basic elements are there, flood, animals, big boat, and so on. However, there are some interesting additions that spice up the story so to speak.

The movie spends more time on the inner turmoil of Noah and explores his character in depth. It is interesting to look at the psychology of a man who knowingly let the entire world die to save himself and his family. This is an apocalyptic movie; the world is ending, or least the world as they know it.

Some have criticized this movie for its overly obvious anti-war and environmentalist message; however, it seems that having an agenda is increasingly common amongst blockbuster Hollywood films. Consider The Day the Earth Stood Still remake, or Happy Feet or countless other obviously environmentalist movies. Or what about the countless movies that put down big business and corporations. I’m not saying it is wrong to have an agenda, I am just saying that all movies have an agenda.

Even the Christian movies that I listed earlier have an agenda. God’s Not Dead tries to paint Christians as saints and everyone who isn’t Christian as bad people. Son of God is clearly just two hour long evangelism, and the Heaven is For Real trailer shows that people are not above lying or using half truths to spread their message.

So the people who are upset with this movie having an agenda are really only upset because it is not the agenda they were hoping to see.