‘Left Behind’ Review – Nicolas Cage, a Plane & The Rapture

When I review movies I try to be as unbiased as possible, though it is of course impossible to fully take away your opinion from the subject the film is about so in turn there is always a level of bias there.  Left Behind is a movie that from the outset is obviously taking a certain viewpoint on the so-called “Rapture” and I did watch it with an unbiased mind, but the fact is I doubt even Christian movie goers would watch it and feel it even attempted to take the subject of religion and an apocalyptic event seriously.

left-behind

In Left Behind Nicolas Cage plays Ray Steele, a pilot looking to use a trip to London to escape his family and spend some time with an air attendant (Nicky Whelan) that has caught his eye.  When passengers vanish off his flight though and with the same happening all around the world he must find a way to land the plane and reunite with his daughter Chloe (Cassi Thompson) who searches for the rest of his family, who appear to have not been “Left Behind” with them.

The problem with Left Behind is its view on what would happen if the Rapture took place.  The question is who would it take? If you take the simplistic Left Behind view all believers will be taken and all children, then you may like the answer that the film gives.  Does this have a concept of sin, or a reason why people should be Left Behind? The simple answer is no, you just have to be a preachy Christian or a child to be taken up to heaven.  All animals will be left behind also, so what did they do wrong to be left for the apocalypse to take?  Simple questions really, that go ignored.

When the people who have not been “saved” by God figure out what happened to them they seem pretty accepting of it, not even questioning just why they didn’t follow their family members.  It’s fine, God has taken them to protect them from what is to come.  No thought of what he has left the rest to of course (which you won’t see in the movie).

What is annoying about this idea is that the idea of The Rapture could be handled in a better way, it is something that should be debated and actually be used as a tool to create a fantastical but somewhat believable story about Heaven actually existing and just who would be worthy of being taken there to be “saved”.  It seems bad when This is the End handles the subject in a better way, and can even find humour in the subject, but a film like Left Behind just uses the concept to make a poor disaster story.  The real question should be, just what sins did the left overs do to force them to stay on the earth? The real answer is that doesn’t matter, you just have to be a believer and preach to other people about how they are all doomed when The Rapture comes (think of that smugness they must feel when they are right).

When it comes to the acting on display in Left Behind there is a mix of good and bad performances, but mostly they are adequate for the movie and don’t pull the audience away from the plot they are trying to follow.  Nicolas Cage who is getting famous for his eccentric performances doesn’t do a bad job, he makes the best out of what he has, it’s just a shame that he really isn’t given that much to work with.  Chad Michael Murray as a reporter who helps Cage try keep control of the plane plays a notable part, but other than that there isn’t really that much to remember when the end of the film finally creeps up on the viewer.  The ending is obviously written with a hopefulness of a sequel where we’ll see some apocalyptic events, but I somehow doubt we’ll get to see that.

So the real question about Left Behind (I guess) is who would want to see this movie? Well I’m sure there are a few Cage fans out there who will watch it just so they can add it to the list of his bad movies.  I also know that there will fans of the novel of which Left Behind is based, and they may like what they see.  For movie goers though, I do feel they will be struggling with this one, even ones looking for a movie that features the theme of religion and The Rapture.  I just don’t feel that Left Behind takes a serious or even entertaining look at a subject that should be much more interesting than Left Behind manages to be.

Left Behind is available in the UK on DVD and Blu-ray now.

Be sure to like Pissed Off Geek on Facebook and follow them on Twitter to keep up to date with all the news and reviews.

Leave a Reply