NOAH - Movie Review

 Title: Noah
Running Time: 138 min
Directors: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Russel Crowe, Emma Watson, Jennifer Connelly, Anthony Hopkins, Ray Winstone, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth

Review:
When you let such a visual and creative director as Darren Aronofsky play with one of the most famous biblical stories, you kind of already know that you are in for some controversy. "Noah" is in fact the director's Interpretation of the original tale, rather than a true telling, and adds elements to the mythology, that some people might not accept. In my opinion however, those changes might twist the events a bit, but do not affect it's core message and morals it wants to get across.
The first half of the movie really feels like a fantasy epic: world building, some battle sequences, mystical creatures, love, violence and in the center of it  Noah and his family, receiving a message from "the creator" that they try to understand and then carry out. Beautiful images (especially Noah's dream sequences), that use colors and VFX more than effectively and an exciting, fascinating and sometimes gritty story on top of it all.
Then comes the flood, and Noah and his family save themselves on the arc (spoilers?!), and the second half of the movie begins: Though still carried out very well, due to this immediate reduction of characters, story-lines and settings, this part almost feels like a different movie. A much slower-paced movie, and so the film as a whole feels like it is hitting the breaks, and in the end still feels good but unfortunately a bit too long.
The actors are all doing a great job, making the characters and their struggle feel very real, and as said before, the cinematography is great. A special mention has to go to an animated sequence in which Noah tells the story of genesis, which cleverly manages to blend science and religion into one!
All in all, "Noah" is a movie for Darren Aronofsky and cinema fans, but might turn people off who do not like the liberties it takes as it is not "the story of Noah" but rather "based on the story of Noah".