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Movie Overview
Cast
• James Caviezel
• Maia Morgenstern
• Monica Bellucci
Director
• Mel Gibson
MPAA Rating
R - sequences of graphic violence
The Passion of the Christ (2004)

REVIEWS
NEWS
INTERVIEWS
OTHER
OFCS Rating: 52% Rotten
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5/10
"Beautiful, violent -- and also funny for all the wrong reasons, and boring."  Movie Gazette  Anton Bitel

A
"One of the best films of this middle-aged decade."  FromTheBalcony  Bill Clark

C
"Passion might be a courageous, visceral, boldly artistic motion picture, but that it doesn’t make a very convincing dramatic experience."  FilmJerk.com  Brian Orndorf

"This problem of truth -- how it might be defined, known, or told -- underlies most all of Mel Gibson's film."  PopMatters  Cynthia Fuchs

2/5
"The Passion is a beautiful film, but an empty one."  eFilmCritic.com  David Cornelius

A
"Mel Gibson’s personal vision of the persecution and death of Christ is relentless, brutal... and brilliant."  EDGE Boston  David Foucher

2/4
"Mel's rockpile is akin to taking Oliver Twist (another well-thumbed literary tome) and focusing entirely on the scene in which Bill Sykes bludgeons Nancy to death."  Movie Boeuf  David N. Butterworth

4/4
"The bottom line is that The Passion of the Christ is an astonishing cinematic achievement, utterly riveting from start to finish."  Reel Film Reviews  David Nusair

F
"Has such anti-Semitic possibilities and no upside for anyone but believers in Mel's vision that the execution of Christ is more important than his life."  Ozus' World Movie Reviews  Dennis Schwartz

"Whatever demons fueled Mel Gibson's longtime passion to mount this work, no redemption is to be found in the one-dimensional result."  ReelTalk Movie Reviews  Donald J. Levit

3/4
"How anyone could call Gibson's filmic account anti-Semitic is mindboggling in its confused narrow-mindedness."  TheMovieBoy.com  Dustin Putman

"A high-art snuff film...an unhealthy, inhuman, pornographic, masochistic torture mechanism."  Slant Magazine  Ed Gonzalez

"La conmoción deja paso al rechazo o a la admiración con que los maquilladores lograron esas heridas en el cuerpo del actor (lo que se asemeja mucho a la indiferencia)."  Uruguay Total  Enrique Buchichio

A
"The Passion of the Christ is a rare thing indeed, then: a work of art that succeeds as a film, as a message, and, yes, as a labor of love."  EricDSnider.com  Eric D. Snider

4/4
"The Passion of the Christ is a tremendous FILM and if you look at it through those eyes you may believe that too. "  eFilmCritic.com  Erik Childress

D
"If what you are looking for is an overwrought, hyper-violent reenactment of Jesus' final hours, that is what you will get here, and no more."  Film Blather  Eugene Novikov

3.5/4
"No voy siquiera a pretender revisar esta película como cualquier otra, porque no lo es."  Doncinema.com  Flavio J. Arosemena

3/4
"...captivating and provocative in its exquisite spirit. The Passion of the Christ is an ambitious and visceral undertaking that demands acceptance."  Movie Eye  Frank Ochieng

C+
"It definitely makes the viewer suffer--but it's debatable if by itself that's a truly enlightening contribution to one's understanding of Christ's message."  One Guy's Opinion  Frank Swietek

4/5
"The most compelling message of this unflinching, powerful, and haunting movie is that in Jesus' name we are obligated to extend our compassion to victims everywhere."  Spirituality and Practice  Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

C-
"As a film -- and more importantly, as a document of faith -- it is a dismayingly simplistic, obvious, overbearing waste remarkable only for the quantities of blood it spills."  Mixed Reviews  Gabriel Shanks

3.5/4
"A gripping, powerful motion picture -- arguably the most forceful depiction of Jesus' death ever to be committed to film."  ReelViews  James Berardinelli

3.5/4
"a film about the last hours of Christ that is both reverent, but also frighteningly realistic and frequently daring"  Q Network Film Desk  James Kendrick

2/5
"Mel Gibson's labor of love about the death of Jesus is incredibly labored, recasting his Crucifixion in crimson, slo-mo cliches."  Netflix  James Rocchi

3/4
"Gibson's passion is all over this film...but his resorting to mawkish, superficial tactics blows the tone off-course from time to time"  Perihelion Journal  Jay Antani

2/4
"Saturated with vengeance, betrayal, and melodrama, Mel Gibson's sadistic take on Jesus’ final twelve hours screams bloody murder."  Aufmuth.com  Jeanne Aufmuth

8/10
"I expected to leave my viewing of the film feeling battered and bruised, but instead I felt very peaceful. Seeing the strength required for forgiveness uplifted me."  Window to the Movies  Jeffrey Chen

2/4
"Jesus Christ is remote, a Superman among men, and his teardrops shake the earth."  Slant Magazine  Jeremiah Kipp

8/10
"This is one man's vision of that time and as a movie... it's pretty damn good!"  JoBlo's Movie Emporium  JoBlo

2/4
" For a filmmaker who wants to create an adaptation of the story of Jesus, Mel Gibson's motives seem ironically impure."  Big Picture Big Sound  Joe Lozito

89/100
"Dead languages and horrific violence aside, this is a film everyone should see, whether they hold any religious beliefs or not."  FilmFocus  Joe Utichi

6/10
"...the director spends so much time recounting in minute and realistic detail the agony of Christ that he neglects the stronger, spiritual message, of love and kindness."  DVDTown.com  John J. Puccio

"As the film's director, Gibson has a hard time letting the text speak for itself. He seems intent on creating a testament to his own sins."  Light Views  John Larsen

6/10
"In terms of films based upon outlandish stories, I'm way more worried about how Alfonso Cuarón is going to handle the next Harry Potter movie."  Planet Sick-Boy  Jon Popick

"While The Passion will succeed for some and fail for others as theology, it fails as a movie because of the single-mindedness of vision that blinds the filmmaker to the elements of storytelling a movie needs to spread its case beyond the faithful."  In the Dark  Jonathan F. Richards

2/4
"Mr. Gibson has plucked at the rawest of nerves yet I cannot blame him. He is expressing himself through the medium of film and using the text of his bible as the basis."  Bangitout.com  Jordan Hiller

3.5/4
"'Bien filmada, mejor actuada y sólidamente dirigida. Vale la pena todos y cada uno de los centavos de su producción y del costo del boleto de entrada.'"  Moviola  Jorge Avila Andrade

2.5/5
"From a technical standpoint, the film is impressive. From a narrative or message-bringing standpoint, it left me wanting. And the violence...."  Cinerina  Karina Montgomery

3/4
"... a powerful presentation."  MovieCrypt.com  Kevin A. Ranson

4/4
"Religion is always a delicate and personal issue, but great filmmaking is great filmmaking, period."  Montreal Film Journal  Kevin N. Laforest

A
"After all the debate about this film...what Gibson has delivered is his own passionate vision."  Reeling Reviews  Laura Clifford

4.5/5
"Una cinta por instantes hermosa, casi siempre demoledora, pero sin duda alguna, profundamente pasional."  Cinenganos  Luis Martinez

3/5
"Never dull -- no mean feat, given that it spends two hours telling a story whose end is widely known -- and features performances that range from coarsely effective to phenomenal."  TV Guide's Movie Guide  Maitland McDonagh

2.5/4
"Although it's very good at showing Jesus' suffering, the movie treats him as a prop"  Movie Habit  Marty Mapes

"This isn’t a movie: it’s a theme-park ride for Jesus freaks. SEE the hunks of flesh ripped from Jesus’ side! EXPERIENCE the stations of the cross like never before!"  Flick Filosopher  MaryAnn Johanson

"It is a film worth seeing and talking about, for better or worse. It gets some things very right, but the violence threatens to overshadow the message."  Aisle Seat  Mike McGranaghan

B
"More prayer of a gifted film-maker than movie, a narrow and harrowing perspective on a story that, no matter what your faith, is bigger than any attempt to portray on film."  Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies  Nell Minow

D
"Sick."  Lessons of Darkness  Nick Schager

3/5
"Gibson se concentra em uma passagem que ignora totalmente a compaixão e o amor – dois sentimentos preciosos para alguém que, de acordo com a Bíblia, morreu por nossos pecados."  Cinema em Cena  Pablo Villaca

"This is a good film, well-made, well-told and it is clearly a personal triumph for Mel Gibson."  Critic Doctor  Peter Sobczynski
OFCS Rating: 52% Rotten
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