Heaven Is for Real (2014) [Movie Review]

As Easter closes in, the slew of Christian will soon be over. Heaven Is for Real seems to be the last of the bunch, and you guessed it! It has the exact same quality as the rest of them!

In this film, a young child goes to Heaven and comes back a different boy. He knows things he shouldn't, or couldn't, know. This shocks the town and controversy expands. It's based on the book by the same name.

I haven't read the book, so I can't say which is better (though the answer is probably neither), But what I found interesting is this young child's fascination with Spider-Man. For anyone who does not know, Heaven Is for Real is a film backed by Sony, the same people who own the films rights to Spider-Man - who also happens to have another movie coming out in two weeks. I asked a couple people who had read the books, and guess what! Spider-Man was never mentioned in the books. What I picked up the most from this movie was a shameless plug for another franchise.

That one minor thing was a major thing in my view on the movie. But I have to imagine my thoughts would remain the same even without that addition. When your main character is a 4 year old, you don't get a whole lot of choices for talented actors. And it definitely showed. While this was the child's first exposure to acting, I can't commend his abilities. He could barely mumble through his lines. What's worse is the fact that the rest of the cast, which includes some very well established actors, were just as stale in their roles.

And finally, the movie never looked that great. Sure, it's 2014 and the cameras have nice quality to begin with. But what little effects the film had looked bad. And the cinematography was mediocre at best.

But every Christian that I talked to enjoyed the movie. So it's possible that others can enjoy it, but it definitely needed improvement in my eyes.

Rating: 5/10

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