Okay, stick with me here, ‘kay, kids?
So, the first two God’s Not Dead films were downright atrocious: They reveled in persecution complexes, strawmanned the hell outta naysayers and nonbelievers, and generally made like-minded Christians seem absolutely intolerable to be around. Add to that the second chapter reeeaaaally reaching for that glorious persecution, and you’ll get a pretty negative view of things. But it wasn’t all bad on my end, ’cause the sheer ineptitude of the filmmaking and outrageous writing and performances provided some ironic sense of enjoyment in the series. As such, I couldn’t wait for the third installment to come out.
Then the theatres around me either didn’t get it or only had it for a week or so. I guess I was sleeping on the job, so I missed the release. Damn. Luckily, the amount of time it takes for films to hit home video these days is relatively small, so we’re getting into things now. A tad late, to be sure, but it’s getting done.
Not gonna lie, I was surprised by what I saw here.
In A Light in Darkness (shucking the numeral in fear of sequelitis, guys?), we come back to our boy Pastor Dave as he’s arrested for not complying with laws reviewing sermons’ content (y’know, to make sure the church’s tax-exempt status is properly upheld, but anyway). He finds himself the center of controversy on his college campus, which results in the burning of his church and the death of his friend, Rev. Jude. He proceeds to fight the university’s subsequent drive for an eminent domain-based removal of the church with the help of his brother, a wayward lawyer.
Just like the first two entries in the series, we find some flat characterization (with nonbelievers often being portrayed as horrid human beings who have problems with God, not earthly religions), some strong notes of martyr/persecution complexes (along with hand-waving away any charges of such), heavy-handed handling of the mass media, and the inexplicably continued presence of the Newsboys. There’s also the same kind of weak technical filmmaking, including some truly awful handheld camera shots at various points, a hacky use of crepuscular rays in the church, and a finale that borders on treacly. In addition, there’s some lovely self-fellating going on, with the “God’s Not Dead” text message featured prominently in one scene as being incredibly inspirational somehow. Gotta love it.
But here’s what surprised me: This is by far the best film in the franchise. Part of this is the insanely charismatic presence of John Corbett, who plays Dave’s lawyer brother, whose natural likability and talent more than offsets the blandness of David A.R. White’s Dave and the return of Josh Wheaton from the first film, now far too smarmy and smug for his own good (and for everyone else’s, for that matter). Corbett carries the film, despite not being in a good chunk of it and despite his character not having much of a send-off near the end. Things are also helped by the new director and writers, who seem to have seen the first two films, gotten as squeamish as the rest of us, and tried to have this film redeem the series. And it kinda does, to a degree. Though we’re still stuck with the residual crapness of the earlier films by dint of the characters and continuity, this film picks things up by realizing that it’s better to preach love than to push the persecution angle (especially when it’s uncalled-for). As such, we get some actually challenging questions and situations for our characters, hazy answers that may not sound great, and outcomes that aren’t perfect, all the while an underlying message of forgiveness and love drifts upward from the rubble of Dave’s church. Indeed, the major subplot surrounding the perpetrator of the accidental arson is rather strong, almost deserving of its own film, frankly, and it’s a shame that it’s relegated to the background for the majority of the proceedings. But at least it’s there, and at least it breeds a welcome message.
I still hate that they killed Jude (that Ghanaian preacher was my favorite character from the other films), but they gave us an awesome replacement in the preacher that leads the congregation that takes in Dave’s after the fire: he has a very Martin Luther King, Jr.-sounding affectation, and he even calls Dave out on his persecution problem. I also found myself bewildered by the existence of a discussion of the preposterous Mandela Effect in the script (I mean, Curious George is a chimpanzee: why would he ever have a tail, you jackasses!?), but this bit and the other weak points don’t detract enough from the overarching story to weaken the narrative’s message.
I do wish the film wasn’t as dull and somehow simultaneously overwrought as it is, but its messaging and handling of issues of faith is a breath of fresh air given the other dreck-y garbage Pureflix and other companies have given us recently. This one comes very close to redeeming its progenitors, I’m happy to say, though I think it does fall a bit short there. Still, it’s a much more worthwhile entry in the series, and I’m kinda glad it exists.
Didn’t see that coming this morning.
Allusions of Grandeur 