Movie review: God's not Dead

“Mr. Wheaton, is there something wrong?”

Josh Wheaton’s life is heading in the right direction. As a freshman in college, he is working towards his degree, has a pretty girlfriend who is already planning their future together, and has a close relationship with the Lord. Everything seems to be aligning towards a perfect future for this young man. So when his Philosophy professor, Jeffrey Radisson by name, asks the above question of Josh, you would assume the answer would be a resounding “No!”

But it is not so.

You see, Professor Radisson has just declared to his students, including Josh, that “there is no God.” He proposes to his students, “that we refuse to waste our limited time together debating the existence of the ‘big man in the sky’, the myth of a benevolent, all-powerful, supernatural Being.” All he requires from his students is that they fill out their papers with three little words: God is dead.

That, of course, is something Josh as a Christian cannot do, and he lets his professor know. As he tells a friend later, “To me God’s not Dead, and I don’t want anyone convinced out of believing in Him just because their professor thinks they should.”

But what is the other option? Professor Radisson quickly let’s Josh know. If he cannot admit that God is dead, he will have to defend the antithesis—that God is alive and still relevant to a logical discussion. If Josh cannot do this, he will fail his course and lose 30% percent of his final grade , a disastrous blow to his hopes at a degree—and his perfect future.

Josh could just take the easy way out. He could sign the paper with those three little words and keep his perfect plans intact. Indeed, everyone in his life tells him he should! But after being challenged by his pastor, Josh becomes convinced that he cannot disacknowledge God before men. With Professor Radisson as the prosecutor and his students (whom Radisson has already won over) as the jury, Josh Wheaton sets out to do the seemingly impossible: convince the classroom that God’s not dead.

Can he do it? And what will it mean for the people around him if he wins/losses this challenge?

Family Friendliness: 9 out of 10

Language/Dialog: Not a concern

Nothing of concern.

Violence: Mild Concern

A concern for younger viewers is when we see a father hit his daughter across the face twice in a sequence of fairly intense scenes. We then see her dragged forcibly from the house by her father, and he holds her throat in his hand, presumably thinking of choking her.

There is also an accident scene, but one of only internal injuries (no blood).

Sexual Content: Mild concern

Some of the scenes on college campuses feature girls dressed a little less-than-modestly, including one of the main characters. (nothing blatant, of course, but a tad bit concerning nonetheless)

Another aside is that relationships are almost a surprising theme of this movie—and all 3 of them (spoiler alert) end in “break-ups”.

Other Negatives

We hear quite a few sarcastic comments and lots of hatred expressed by Professor Radisson and others for God.

Another concern that I should mention is that if you see this movie in theaters, I strongly advise you to stay outside the theater until the movie previews are over with. We stepped in the theater to catch the tail end of the previews, and the last preview was very inappropriate. :0(

Conclusion

God’s not Dead went above and beyond my expectations for the film. It is hands down the best-acted Christian movie I have ever seen, and the storyline was engaging and rich with the Gospel! In an entertaining and enjoyable way, God’s not Dead gives Christians answers to some of the hardest questions we face today.

And don’t think it is just about a college kid taking a stand for his faith. The lives of many other people are worked into the story as well, and each person represents different struggles and worldviews. This film explores many different sub-plots, each with its own message.

Really, I think this film is an almost breathtaking accomplishment by PurFlix. It is far and away the best film they have ever produced. So . . . this begs the question: is God’s not Dead on a level with Sherwood Pictures’ latest films?

I would say yes—most definitely! And the fact that God’s not Dead is set to gross more money than Fireproof in it’s opening weekend would seem to back me up. In fact, God’s not Dead is my new favorite Christian movie . . . at least on the same level with Courageous! It is that good.

Final rating 5 out of 5 stars