Left Behind

This film is so banal it takes the banality out of The Banal. The premise is absurd. The unravelling of the plot is absurd. The performances are, at best, distracted as is the direction. Even the actors seem unconvinced. I'm still kicking myself for watching this film. Sin and purity are depicted with juvenile simplicity. Religious bias is arrogantly displayed (but I'll leave that to the unfortunate viewer to spot). Complex ideas like forgiveness, atonement and judgement are reduced to idiocy at an atomic level. I apologise if this sounds too much like a rant but for someone who watches well over 15 films a week, I have never subjected myself to anything this offensive (to the senses) in over 25 years.

Was it the money? Did he owe someone a favour? Cage why are you in this terrible movie ? Left Behind is even worse than the Kirk Cameron version ,which also sucked. The book I am sure is better, since many have read it. This movie is a career killer ...it is sad to see Cage left behind by Hollywood. The acting is bad , Cage tries hard to make work out of a script that was seemingly penned by 8 year old's . I mean the dialogue is terrible. Why waste your money making a film that is just bad. Cage needs to really rethink his career . Honestly I felt ashamed for Nick . Wild at Heart , Leaving Las Vegas, and Oscar winner... My God man have you no self respect? Nick you are better than this.

Its about a bizarre disappearance of millions of people.

Oh no, wait, it's about Nicolas Cage landing a plane.

Meh.

The film is pretty straight forward. Not well written. And much of the acting is pretty bad. The better actors are the top billed: Nick Cage and the guy from One Tree Hill. Many of the actors on the plane were terrible. The blonde flight attendant wasn't bad although she seems to be kinda unknown. Jordan Sparks should stick to singing.

With all that being said, this is a niche film for a certain audience (Christians). I'm not sure why atheists and agnostics would watch it and then be totally annoyed or angered by it because of its Christian themes. The film is about the Christian Rapture. And I'm sure most people knew that before watching.

The problem with 90% of the reviews here are that they are biased. Their reviews aren't based on how bad the film is, but instead on their disagreement with the religious ideology behind the film, and their rejection of Christianity. In other words, they're reviewing Christianity instead of the film. But in terms of quality, this film is on par with Sharknado. And this does not deserve the title of Nick Cage's worst film. That prestigious distinction still goes to The Wicker Man.

Let me first say that I am a Christian. I watch campy Christian movies solely for the sake to have some wholesome entertainment. I clearly remember the impact of reading the Left Behind book almost 16 years ago as a boy in middle school. Few other books have had such a profound impact on my life so I hold the entire series close to heart.

However, I share all this to say that this movie is nothing but a hot mess. Here's a short list of sins. 1.) A soundtrack that sounds like bad elevator music 2.) Maybe it was just my theater but the dialogue was also difficult to hear 3.) Casually calm characters on the airplane after one of the most horrifying events known to mankind has just occurred 4.) Out of place comedic relief and 5.) So-so acting.

To be fair though, there were some improvements from the original movie. The rapture scene was markedly improved and actually made me gasp because it truly occurs unexpectedly. The action shots were also much better and the acting was improved but for the star power involved was rather weak. Many of the airplane scenes felt overly contrived with stilted acting.

The movie doesn't necessarily follow the plot of the Left Behind book as it's merely inspired by it but it doesn't matter with all the aforementioned problems. There's also a lot less preaching in this film than the original but frankly could have used more as to convey some message of inspiration.

If you're a fan of the Left Behind series I wouldn't say completely disregard this film but please don't have high expectations that this movie will deliver and improve on the original. I've waited 16 years for a movie to convey the fear, excitement, and triumph that enthralled me when I was an 11 year old boy staying up to the wee hours of the morning trying to read just one more page of the book. After watching this movie, it looks like I'll have to wait for another remake.