Plot Summary
When Christian teacher Grace Wesley is sued by a student’s parents for daring to mention the name of Jesus in her classroom, she is confused as to what is even happening to her. Yet, inspired by the wisdom of her ailing father whom she takes care of, Grace refuses to back down and begins working with her union-appointed lawyer to fight back in court. With her faith under fire, Grace’s case draws the attention of many from the town of Hope Springs, including Pastor James White David Hill, who serves on the jury. As Grace’s beliefs are attacked and tested over and over again, she must dig deep to withstand the world’s onslaught so that Christianity is not snuffed out forever.
Production Quality (1.5 points)
In the new era of PureFlix, video quality and camera work are no longer in question. The sets, locations, and surroundings are respectable. The musical score is average. On the surface, God’s Not Dead 2 looks like a professional film, but there are many hidden issues therein. Of the high profile Christian movies we have reviewed, this is possibly the worst edited one to date. The many-subplots addiction from God’s Not Dead and Do You Believe? is back, and this time, they are more empty than ever. As will be discussed next, there long sections of this movie that consist of characters staring into space and attempting to sing. Essentially, this was just a lazy production effort that looks good on the outside but not on the inside.
Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)
In this plot, Christian characters are very perfect in every way while atheist characters are hopelessly evil. What’s more, atheists are borderline ridiculed, giving an embarrassing feel to the film. Subplots jump all over the place, confusing the viewer. The premise and other plot happenings are unrealistic and cannot be reconciled with reality. The storyline is saturated with legal rhetoric that is either only half-true or isolating to the audience. Besides these glaringly obvious issues, the plot does not hold the attention and is very drab. There are many slow and melancholy scenes that seem to be designed only to pad the runtime. Large portions of the film are dedicated to advertising apologetic books and other Christian ‘celebrities’. While there is a lot of good information in these product placements, it flies over the audience’s heads and is not remembered. With all this wasted time, there is zero character development, therefore we cannot even appreciate the struggles that are portrayed. In addition, the dialogue is chock-full of swipes at atheists and ‘worldly’ people. The ending is very empty and anticlimactic (despite desperate attempts) and even includes an off-the-wall post-credits scene. Basically, David A. R. White and company just phoned this one in, hoping that the title name recognition would garner them some more cash.
Acting Quality (.5 point)
While this section is not all bad, there is a lot of monotone acting in this film. In another attempt to create buzz by trotting out C-grade ‘big name’ actors and actresses (in addition to the typical PureFlix clowns), this attempt basically flops. Most of the characters carry a Hallmark-ish look to them, with far too much makeup and costuming. Other cast members are just blank—even though they show potential, there’s no one to draw it out. In the end, there is really nothing new here.
Conclusion
In our experience, the world portrayed in this film has never existed. This is not to diminish the plights of some, but the realm PureFlix constructs in many of their films is over the top and outside of reality. Rather than preaching to the choir with a juvenile us-against-the-world narrative that further divides Christians and atheists, the money spent on these types of films would be better spent on films that actually strengthen the church as a whole and tastefully address how American Christian behavior can improve. No one will be saved as a result of God’s Not Dead 2. Christians will not be inspired to grow closer to God as a result of viewing this movie. I would never recommend this movie to a non-believer because the creators give no concern to opposing points of view. Since we as Christians have the truth, we have no need to force it down people’s throats with no regard for their feelings. Delegitimizing someone else’s beliefs has no place in the gospel message. Yet with an awkwardly placed post-credits scene, we are all but promised more of the same nonsense from PureFlix. This is not the direction Christian film needs to go in and now more than ever we need someone who will stand up and combat the image movies like this one project.
Final Rating: 2 out of 10 points
Box Office Revolution 