On August 19, 2016, “Ben-Hur” was released to movie theaters around the globe. If the title sounds familiar, you might be thinking of the 1959 film “Ben-Hur”, which starred Charlton Heston as Judah Ben-Hur and Stephen Boyd.
“This movie definitely tries to stay along the roots of the original,” junior Dom Doray claimed. “However, there are some things that they did add to make it their own.”
This is a movie that is filled with good action and a very strong story, along with a good cast and But does this $100 million budget remake serve the original justice, or does it add itself to the list of Hollywood flops?
“The flow of the movie was slow,” Dom recalled.
While some acting, like Jack Houston (Judah Ben-Hur) and Toby Kebbell (Messala Ben-Hur) is very strong throughout the film, others like Morgan Freeman (Sheik Ilderim) seemed forced and lazy, which is a shame as Mr. Freeman is arguably one of the best actors out there.
The scenery was especially impressive in this film, as most of the locations were actually in Italy. All of the detail put into setting up the environment that the characters are exposed to really helps establish the emotions of the characters by adding context to the area and characters living in the town that helped shaped these characters’ characteristics, mannerisms and motifs, as well as influencing who they are as adults.
A movie is only as good as its plot, but before we dive into that, the storytelling needs to be discussed. And for the most part, the storytelling in this is very strong. The characters all do their own part in contributing to this tale in their own necessary ways and style. This film has a lot involved with the story, and it does a good job keeping you invested throughout the entire film. Good pacing the whole way through, with strong acting and great character development throughout gives a vast understanding of the motivations that influence all of the actions make on screen.
“I thought the motivations were a lot more understandable in this film,” Dom stated. “You can understand kind of, to a certain level, the frustration that he’s going through.”
Judah Ben-Hur is betrayed by his adopted brother, Messala, after taking the blame for the attack on a Roman general. Messala decides to not kill his brother, but instead sends him into exile, and forces him into a becoming a galley slave. So it makes sense that he would want to find his brother and make him pay for what he had done to Judah. And for the most part, all of the motivations make sense. These characters and their actions are all very believable, and you feel that you are with them the whole ride, sharing their pain and celebrating in their triumphs. This follows all the way through the rising action, which has a lot stuffed into it in order to build up to the main climax between the protagonist and antagonist. The conflict is exciting to watch; it’s a really strong climax to conclude the battle that has been spurring throughout this entire film.
Unfortunately, following the climax, the ending falls short and completely kills the mood that had been set up throughout the entire movie, leaving a nasty taste in your mouth from the residue of its existence. The story abruptly switches from a tale of vengeance and all of this tension between the two brothers to a story of forgiveness and acceptance. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a good message. However, it doesn’t fit with the story that you’ve witnessed for the last two hours, which had lots of violent tension between the brothers, the urge in Judah to put an end to his suffering and revenging his family by killing the man who disowned him, outcasted him, and turned him into a galley slave. At this point, all motivations are erased and lose all believability, leaving the realm of reality. It just doesn’t add up with the rest of the movie previously shown to the audience, which is a shame really, as the rest of the movie is very exciting and fun to watch.
Aside from the ending and some of the inner flows woven into this story, this is a good movie that is worth your time. It would be a good idea to watch the original first, though, as it will bring some context to the story and to help pick out which of the two stands as the best.