The life of Clavius, a smart Roman military man, who goes on a long journey with his best friend, Lucius, with whom he searches for what happen to Jesus after his crucifixion, has been turned upside down.
For a film that could have easily become bogged down in Sunday School reverence, or culture-war opportunism, Risen presents an intriguing, oblique approach to a Bible movie.
While Kevin Reynolds does try to do something a little different with Risen than we're used to seeing, it ultimately can't overcome its shoddy pacing and uneventful storyline, turning this into a rather forgettable biblical outing.
Risen is certainly a step up for this genre, and it's more open-minded than you would expect. But this is still a movie made for a captured Christian audience, and it will be those viewers who will like it best.
Risen is a reasonably decent movie, ideal for a young teenage audience. However, most adults will see it as little more than a reasonably clever whodunnit spin on the Resurrection.
It's pointed about how we treat today's zealots, as when Clavius likens the pain of crucification to "sucking air through a wet cloth" - a description of waterboarding.
There's nothing terribly wrong with Risen, and I'd happily watch it on television some lazy Sunday afternoon, but there's just not enough here to keep it from being, ultimately, a pretty forgettable movie.
