'God's Not Dead 2' earnings fall short

Ohhh Nooooo!

I feel as though the light has gone out of my world …

Well, fortunately, then there will likely not be a third.

I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened …

like you all. I saw the first one and enjoyed it. I look forward to seeing this one. It looks like a good story.

I guess mockery is the standard response around here nowadays…

You’ll never be a perfect fundamentalist until you’ve endured Pamela’s Prayer …

If you enjoy the Christian film industry, that’s fine. It’s almost certain, then, that you hold films to a different aesthetic standard depending on whether they convey a Christian message or no; but there’s really nothing wrong with that by itself, any more than enjoying cheesy B films.
However, don’t be surprised that not everyone feels the same. Some people fondly imagine that major movies made by Christians should also be good art.

[Mark_Smith]

I guess mockery is the standard response around here nowadays…

It is a bit funny to see this as worthy news on a fundamentalist site. Ohh how the world has changed.

The discussions on “End of the Spear,” which is even less of any kind of overtly Christian movie than “God’s Not Dead 2,” were much hotter and more involved than this on the old SI ca. 2005.

And, in another case of “nothing new under the sun,” the music thread is heating up a little too, but also doesn’t hold a candle to the big discussions in 2005.

Of course, I could be missing the point entirely, and you really intended to say that nothing has really changed.

It’s worth noting that IMDB gives it 2.9/10, which is far worse than Pamela’s Prayer (4.9/10) and even Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (4.6/10). So perhaps we have a new test for appreciation of fundamentalist movies. Tyler, are you up to it? (I’m too wimpy)

The interesting thing about it is that the cast includes a number of fairly decent actors and actresses—Fred Thompson, Pat Boone, Robin Givens, more—and I would have thought that people with that kind of experience would be able to spot the fact that the movie was going to be a dog—a candidate for a Razzie—and would have stepped in to help the director correct it.

That said, the director’s previous work includes only films in the Christian ghetto, so to help this one out, the actors and actresses would have needed to appeal to those funding it. Hard work, as Dave Barnhart’s comment illustrates.

Fun thought (at least to me); maybe we ought to have a separate discussion about what would be needed to really bring about a renaissance in Christian filmmaking. Being something of a fan of older movies (and some B movies like the one I mentioned above), it strikes me that if you want to do musicals well, you need a pipeline from the art schools and/or vaudeville (e.g. Donald O’Connor, Judy Garland). If you want to do serious drama well, you need a network of good stage actors who have what it takes to migrate onscreen. And for either, I think you’ve got to have your “farm teams” perform some of the secular classics (Shakespeare, the old Shirley Temple movies, etc..) to get the “feel” for what really makes it shine.

If any brave souls dare to criticize Christian movies (films), they had better have a thick skin. While there are few who would defend stuff like “A Thief in the Night”, anyone who even intimates that “War Room” is predictable, that “Milltown Pride” contains glaring plot holes, or that “The Passion of the Christ” is more visceral and Roman Catholic than Biblical, will surely be attacked.

Now IMDB is not the only source of ratings, but it’s worth noting that they rate God’s Not Dead 2 (2.9/10) well below Plan 9 from Outer Space (4/10). Other Christian movies, including the ones Ron mentions, actually seem to do better.

So the bad news is that GND2 has scores that would rate it as a good contender for “worst movie of the decade”. The good news is it’s not the only thing going on in Christian film these days.

As I posted on Facebook/Twitter:

God’s Not Dead 2 SPOILER ALERT…

God’s still not dead.

Let’s see: “He’s dead. Murdered. And one things for sure..somebody’s responsilbe!”

Two brothers (8 and 10) were exceedingly mischievous. Their parents couldn’t control them, so they took them to the local priest. The priest saw the boys one at a time. The first boy came in his office, and the priest stared at him for five minutes before pointing at the boy and asking “Where is God?” The boy said nothing. Again, louder, the priest asked, “Where is God?” Again the boy said nothing. A third time, in a louder, firmer voice, the priest leaned far across the desk and asked, “WHERE IS GOD?” The boy panicked and ran out the door. He passed his brother and grabbed him saying, “Let’s get out of here! God is missing, and they think we did it.”