Movie Reviews

Movie review: ‘God’s Not Dead 2’

Comments (14)
  1. Lynne says:

    I saw this movie with people from my congregation. We met at a restaurant afterwards to discuss the movie. I agree with this review. I would have liked more realism for what happens in a public school and in a courtroom. I taught in a public school 22 years, parochial 8 years, and in a repressive foreign country 2 years. I knew what I could say and not say, and how to set the scene for students to ask questions I was allowed to answer. The Houston case was 2014. The movie does not indicate that the subpoena request for sermons was dropped. If the script takes liberties with the classroom and the courtroom, why would I think the script had veracity for stating the historicity of Jesus? The characters were stereotypes. It was emotional rather than strong.

  2. David Gray says:

    As George Will once observed, even a bad shot is worthy of respect when they accept a duel…

  3. Brandon says:

    Here is my Review of “God’s Not Dead 2”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbpHzy2p3IM

    1. Russell Egeler says:

      God’s Not Dead 2 is one of the best movies I have seen in years. The feeling you get as you watch it are “This is too real.” if there was too much emotionalism (there wasn’t) this would not be a bad thing. We are fast loosing religious freedoms in this country and we need to be motivated to fight against those attacks. How do we do that? By using cold, sterile, movies? I don’t think so.. The movie was very strong, very encouraging. Since the Synod can not produce anything this good as far as movies are concerned I feel the above movie reviewer was out of line. If Pastor Giese does not like emotionalism, how did he like the Martin Luther movie that came out several years ago? That was highly emotional. Go see “God’s Not Dead 2” and then give thanks to God that He is allowing movie companies like Pure Flix to make quality movies.

  4. Isaac says:

    I haven’t seen either film and reviews like this are the reason why. I have little doubt that this review is an accurate depiction of what you will find in these movies, which weigh heavy on my heart knowing people will judge Christians and the church by this superficial tripe. Thank you for this clear thinking and honest reflection on the many problems you found in the film. We need to stop giving Christian artists an “A for effort” when the product lacks real substance.

    1. Michael Drake says:

      If this were a Hollywood film like Noah, then I would emphatically agree with your comment.

      I have seen this film. Go see it for yourself. You will be inspired and not ashamed of the picture it paints of real Christians. The film shows individuals quoting Scripture in several scenes relative to their personal struggles. Quoting Scripture is by no means ‘superficial tripe’ nor should it earn such a negative elitist review as above.

      Nor can this be dismissed as an ‘A for effort’ artist film. I know the difference and I’m sure you do too but, like me, have been disappointed so often by Hollywood. This film is not Hollywood and it does contain real substance.

  5. TK says:

    I haven’t seen the movie, but does it really have a scene where a high school class discusses the historicity of Jesus? Because that’s a pretty settled issue in scholarly discourse. Even Dawkins and Harris believe Jesus was a real person. I wish the review would be clearer about this.

    1. Michael Drake says:

      In the film a history teacher is asked a question by a student related to the topic of non-violent civil rights struggles. The student asked if the teachings of Jesus and Ghandi were basically the same. The teacher answered the question honestly comparing the two cases related to non-violent struggles. The problem is she quoted Scripture in order to clarify Jesus’ view while not being preachy. Of course the school board and the ACLU wanted to make this teacher an example to all other teachers who happen to be Christian….and that is what the story is all about. Hope this helps.

  6. Cheryl Schmidt says:

    So many movies do not accurately represent the Word of God. These movies are causing people to read the Bible and ask questions. Recent movies like Noah with Russell Crowe and Exodus with Christian Bale are so off it is horrifying. The LMS may need to invest in biblical movies to share correct depictions. I would rather see God Is Not Dead over the hundreds of garbage available on television and in the cinema today.

  7. Karla Westerfield says:

    I respectfully but wholeheartedly disagree with the poor review by Pr. Giese. I just saw the movie and feel that it is probably in line with the goals set for it: to outline the problems in today’s society and what the alleged agenda of the ACLU is. This story is a compilation of multiple court cases that are enumerated at the end of the movie. Remember, this is not trying to pick out a specific case. Also, they only have 2 hours, not days and days to address a serious, emergent issue. As far as Wesley stating that she felt like God was far away, I defy anyone to deny that they have experienced the same thing when in a time of great distress. Whether you choose to agree with Pat Boone’s statement of “the teacher is silent” during a test or whether it is we, ourselves that feel God is distant when He truly isn’t is immaterial to the subject. In my humble opinion, this movie well accomplishes it’s purpose with good actors and a good story line. Worth every dime to see it and I will definitely be adding it to my library.

    1. Michael Drake says:

      Karla, your review is spot on. Thank you. It is worth every dime. In fact, we are going a second time to see the film and will bring others with us.

    2. Gail Hiscox says:

      I especially enjoyed both movies of God’s Not Dead. Why cut these types of movies down when there is so much trash out there? There are a lot of people who go to movies but not to church. At least these movies will make them question and get into God’s Word and begin a dialog with Jesus.
      You said it would be more real if she lost everything….did you watch the movie Believe?, they had that situation in that movie. They are at least trying to get the Word out and encourage Christians to be bold in their faith. I congratulate them on a job well done!!

  8. Michael Drake says:

    I agree about avoiding Hollywood-made religious movies but this movie is not made by Hollywood. How can I tell? It actually presents real-world scenes about faith, the Bible and Jesus. The review above was much too harsh on the film for being emotional–maybe a documentary is preferred? I was inspired by the film and recommend it–and I am an old school traditional-service Lutheran.

  9. Noah says:

    This was a really good read. Thanks for sharing, I think you make some excellent points!