Critic Reviews

It's a capable Sunday school lesson with little for anyone to challenge and practically nothing that offends.

Unlike “The Passion of the Christ,” there’s no Aramaic with English subtitles, a lot less blood and no anti-Semitism. No character feels like a caricature... But it’s also dramatically flat, with few actors making much of an impression as they play saints and sinners.

At best, this version succeeds as a Sunday school supplement. But the blandness is enough to make you long for Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ."

Son of God is guilty of all the sins of the 1950s Bible epics, but without any of the majesty.

This is a rich, and important story. There’s no argument there. The only problem with “Son of God” is that there are much more compelling ways to tell it.

Director Christopher Spencer’s biblical yarn lacks the complex rigor of Martin Scorsese’s “The Last Temptation of Christ” and the fury of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” leaving its star, Diogo Morgado, stuck in a film that’s stiff and earnest.

For the most part, though, the film maintains its low ambitions; it is mostly inoffensive, only occasionally ludicrous, and at times, at least for me, genuinely moving.

This quite mediocre spawned-from-television feature feels like a Jesus film designed primarily for true believers, meaning that the faith-based public that has already been put on alert by seal-of-approval-dispensing church leaders that this is a film to see will make the Fox release into a significant Heartland attraction.

It's undoubtedly a daunting role, and Morgado captures the gentle benevolence associated with the messianic figure. He doesn't, however, project the authority, gravitas or depth of a spiritual leader.

The film does thoroughly succeed in one important regard: offering a coherent, viewer-friendly account of the life of Jesus Christ.