Film Review: Killing Jesus (TV)

Written by: Jay Heilman (3/26/2015)

When I first got the screener for Nat Geo’s Killing Jesus, I had high hopes. I was hoping that a TV movie/event would bring justice to its adaptation of the greatest story ever told. The film is based on the book by Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly (O’Reilly Factor) and author Martin Dugard. I got about 45 minutes in when I realized that the film was already missing the mark – big time. With a story line that is loosely based on Scripture, with many creative liberties taken, Killing Jesus was a disappointment.

The major problem I had with it was the portrayal of Jesus Himself. In the film, Jesus is confronted by his cousin John The Baptist, and it’s though John has to reveal to Jesus what He was there to do. Jesus in the film is clueless and even denies that He is there for the purpose in which God clearly states in the Bible. Wait a minute… I don’t remember that part in the Bible? Later scenes in the film including the crucifixion are rather “bloodless”. It doesn’t even look as though Christ has been beaten, only a few drops of blood on his brow and face along with some marks on His back. The crucifixion is much more disturbing and bloody as told in Scripture and I think that the lack of here almost diminishes what Christ’s death was about. He was taking the sin and punishment of the world on Himself. I don’t know if the lack of this in the film was done on purpose on part of the producers, who may have wanted the film to avoid coming across or hit viewers like the scenes of Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ did in 2004.

Personally, the graphic scenes of Passion were enough to make me realize just how much torture and pain Jesus went through on my behalf. Positives of the film are that it was shot well and has wonderful scenery as well as great performances by well-known actors like Kelsey Grammar (Herod), Rufus Sewell (Caiaphas) and John Rhys-Davies (Annas), but I just couldn’t get past the film’s portrayal of Jesus denying His own deity. Christians shouldn’t be surprised by this though, at least I wasn’t. The film was based on a book written by Bill O’Reilly, rather than the Bible itself, and since I hadn’t read the book prior, I didn’t know how accurate it would be to Scripture. I love the National Geographic Channel, and alongside ESPN, it’s the two channels most watched in my house. I have also been a fan of the magazine as long as I can remember, but I know that when documentaries on Jesus, God or the Bible have aired on the channel in the past, I watch with caution.

Overall, I was quite disappointed in the film. I was hoping that this would be an opportunity to portray the real Christ of the Bible since Easter is coming up, but Killing Jesus just makes Christ look like He’s clueless to what His meaning of life is. If you’re looking for a strong story and a way to share the true Jesus with friends and family – this is not the one you will want to point them to. It misses the mark horribly and I would suggest maybe telling them to check out something out – or just read the Bible itself. You can never go wrong there. So I give Killing Jesus 2/5 stars solely on the production/scenery.