Finally got around to seeing this one (same goes for Shrek 2, tonight). This is not a review, just some thoughts:

All historical movies should be performed in their original languages with subtitles. This was such an awesome decision by Mr. Gibson I can’t fully express my enthusiasm for it. It’s so much more engrossing this way.

Settle down with all the slo-mo, Mel. Geez.

I’m really tired of seeing ancient Jews (especially Jesus) portrayed as Anglo-Saxons.

Great acting. And, Mel chose some perfect faces for most of the roles.

What the hell was all the controversy about? Oh, right, marketing. Gotta hand it to Mel on this one: he got the last laugh and $370 million.

I think Mel assumed that his primary audience would be familiar enough with the characters that he wouldn’t have to develop them at all in his movie. But every movie about Christ has presented a very distinct picture of him and the people and world of his time, so I never really knew which Christ or which Mary or which Rome I was dealing with. And it certainly wasn’t simply ‘the Biblical Jesus,’ because the Bible isn’t specific enough to provide enough details for that (and Gibson’s film doesn’t adhere to several of the details it does provide, anyway).

The worm in his nose near the beginning was a bit much, but The Devil is (dare I say it?) cool.

This whole movie is about beating the audience into submission - not just with the torture scenes (well, okay, that’s 90% of the movie), but with every emotional appeal. Now, I understand the movie deals with a heavy subject, but Gibson beats it - and us - into the dirt, and I don’t appreciate that. Especially when it’s just about being beaten into submission. Maybe if this was a 40-minute climax to an epic that had already developed its characters and shown us why Jesus was dying and what different people thought of him, this would’ve been great. But by itself, it’s just mindless sadism on the part of its director.

Oh yeah, and if ever a DVD needed some special features, or especially a director commentary, it was this one. But we get nothing. Probably the worst DVD of a $300 million-grossing film we’ll ever see.

I hate these ‘Worst of 2004′ movie lists. So, it’s fine if you didn’t care for Dogville, Million Dollar Baby, or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. But you have to admit they’re all competently (and confidently) directed, written, and acted, whereas something like Blade: Trinity or White Chicks or Catwoman has almost no redeeming qualities at all. I have a hard time taking you seriously if you really think Million Dollar Baby was worse than any of those, even if you thought Million Dollar Baby was ‘manipulative’ or ‘predictable.’ As if Catwoman isn’t guilty of far worse sins.