I was going to give this movie four stars out of five but I've decided to just give it three. It was well worth seeing, but then again I got a matinee ticket.
The movie is touted as bringing a new perspective to the Nativity Story. The only new perspective I could think of its bringing is that of the big screen; I don't remember any other "big" Christmas movies with this theme. But other than that the movie brings nothing new to the plate. That it needs to bring anything new is of course a matter of controversy; the Christmas story should be good enough, right? Well, with that logic, why would you need a huge big-screen production of it? Or is the Christmas story good enough as-is...does it have to be given larger-than-life dancing pictures to give it a shot of new vitality? Looks like the creators of The Nativity Story said yes, in a way, to this question, yet trying to keep everything else as normal\mundane (positive\negative connotations) as possible.
A lot of people will like\like this movie precisely because it's more of the same; they know the story, and now it's in a bit more living color so as to be a bit more palatable. Which is fine, but just saying that if you're looking for something unusual (except for the well-duh strong religous overtones lol which isn't really that unusual with the release last year of Narnia and this year's Facing the Giants) you'll be disappointed here. Well-done? Yes, pretty well done. Amazing? The story, maybe...the movie, not really. Thus, 3\5 stars.
