God's Not Dead 2

God's Not Dead 2

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Harold Cronk
Produced by
  • Elizabeth Hatcher-Travis
  • Brittany Lefebvre
  • Michael Scott
  • David A. R. White
  • Russell Wolfe
  • Nathan Wenban
Written by
  • Chuck Konzelman
  • Cary Solomon
Starring
Music by Will Musser
Cinematography Brian Shanley
Edited by Vance Null
Distributed by Pure Flix Entertainment
Release dates
  • April 1, 2016 (2016-04-01)
Running time
 120 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $5 million[2]
Box office $22.1 million[3]

God's Not Dead 2 is a 2016 American Christian drama film directed by Harold Cronk and stars Melissa Joan Hart, Jesse Metcalfe, David A. R. White, Hayley Orrantia, and Sadie Robertson. It is the sequel to the 2014 film God's Not Dead and was released on April 1, 2016. It was the final film role for Fred Thompson.

Plot

After answering a student's (Hayley Orrantia) question about Jesus, a high school teacher (Melissa Joan Hart) faces a court case that could end her career.

Cast

Production

In July 2015, it was announced that production of God's Not Dead 2 was nearly complete.[6]

Release

Promotion

The day before the Iowa caucuses, presidential candidate Mike Huckabee (who appears in one scene) offered a free screening of the film.[7]

Box office

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $7.6 million (less than the original's opening of $8.6 million), finishing fourth at the box office behind Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($51.3 million), Zootopia ($19.3 million) and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 ($11.2 million).[8]

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 10%, based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 3.6/10. The site's consensus states: "Every bit the proselytizing lecture promised by its title, God's Not Dead 2 preaches ham-fistedly to its paranoid conservative choir."[9] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 22 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[10] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[8]

Bill Zwecker of the Chicago Sun-Times felt that the underlying issues presented in the film are relevant in today's world, but criticized its lack of subtlety, saying, "the entire film simply comes off as a two-hour, jazzed-up movie version of a sermon."[11] Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter criticized the film's "straw man" argument and its perceived victimizing of Christians: "Pounding its agenda with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, God's Not Dead 2 will no doubt please its target audience. Everyone else will be left wondering why its fans seem to be suffering from such a persecution complex."[12] Jordan Hoffman at The Guardian deemed it "a much better movie than God's Not Dead, but that's a bit like saying a glass of milk left on the table hasn't curdled and is merely sour" and stated that "it is unfortunately just professional enough that there are only brief instances of transcendent badness, rather than drawn-out sequences."[13] Nick Olszyk of Catholic World Report admitted that the film "doesn't have the knockout punch of its predecessor but still a decent left hook.[14]

In reviewing the film, Roger Patterson, of the Christian apologetics organization Answers in Genesis, stated that although the film was "much better than the first" due to the absence of the evolutionary ideas in the first film as well as other aspects, he criticized the film for presenting an "empirical, evidentialist apologetic that pointed to Jesus as a simple historical figure," as well as having many Christian clichés.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "GOD'S NOT DEAD 2 (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. April 12, 2016. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  2. ↑ Schwartzel, Erich. "Hollywood finds faith: Miracles from Heaven, God’s Not Dead 2". The Australian Business Review. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  3. ↑ "God's Not Dead 2 (2016)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  5. ↑ "'Duck Dynasty' Sadie Robertson Teases Acting Debut in 'God's Not Dead 2' (Video)". Christianpost.com. June 23, 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
  6. ↑ O'Brien, Cortney. July 8, 2015, townhall.com "Star-Studded ‘God’s Not Dead 2’ Wrapping up Production, Will Expose an Academic War on Faith". Accessed December 29, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Mike Huckabee Screening 'God's Not Dead 2' for Iowa Caucuses". Christian Post.
  8. 1 2 "'Batman V Superman's Knock-Down, Drag-Out Fight with the Box Office: 2nd Weekend At $52M+, -68%". deadline.com.
  9. ↑ "God's Not Dead 2 (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  10. ↑ "God's Not Dead 2 reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
  11. ↑ Bill Zwecker (March 31, 2016). "'God's Not Dead 2': Too much Bible thumping bruises the story". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  12. ↑ Frank Scheck (April 1, 2016). "'God's Not Dead 2': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  13. ↑ Jordan Hoffman (April 1, 2016). "God's Not Dead 2 review – only brief instances of transcendent badness". The Guardian. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  14. ↑ "From the Classroom to the Courtroom: God's Not Dead 2". Catholic World Report. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  15. ↑ Patterson, Roger (April 25, 2016). "Movie Review: God’s Not Dead 2". Answers in Genesis. Retrieved April 26, 2016.

External links

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