At a glance: End of the Spear

I’ve sat down probably three or four times today to try and collect my thoughts on END OF THE SPEAR. I was treated to an early showing yesterday, and I really enjoyed it. Actually writing about why I enjoyed it is another matter.

I’ve assembled a great assortment of quips and analysis and even managed to summarize the film’s first half hour in a simple paragraph. But taking all of this and forming one cohesive post feels more difficult than coming up a metaphor without resorting to awful clichés like “pulling teeth” and what have you.

On the short end of things, I liked the film—it’s the first overtly Christian piece of filmmaking that takes itself halfway seriously, more concerned with telling the story than it is with changing the world. Besides, I hate taking something like books or films and labeling them “Christian,” like it’s a genre somehow separate from others. This movie tells a gripping story. It’s telling endures a few hiccups, but it’s a great improvement over the likes of LEFT BEHIND.

Christians will fail to contribute to quality filmmaking so long as we are concerned with saving the world. Jesus never asked us to do that—he asked us to obey.