Why We Do Movie Reviews

Some have asked why PlanetWisdom reviews movies. Do we really want to encourage teenagers to go to all these movies? Or do we just want some way to say that movies are bad, bad, bad? Nope. Our purpose is not to recommend movies or to label all movies as evil.

We review movies for two smaller reasons and one great big one:

1. We like them!

We like sitting in the dark with a bag of popcorn and seeing a great new movie for the first time. We like to laugh at comedies, get excited by action and adventure, and be moved by powerful drama. Movies are a great way to tell a great story.

2. We want to warn Christian students about negative content and/or lousy films.

Lots of movies just aren’t worth seeing. Some are packed with bad language, graphic violence, or immoral sex. Others are just stupid. That’s why some churches and parents tell students not to go to movies at all. But most Christian students do go to movies—especially PG-13 and under films. We want this to be a place where you can come to find out why the movie got its rating and decide if you want to sit through that or not.

Movies aren’t harmless. If seeing violence makes you struggle with feelings of anger—or hearing cussing prompts filthy words to fly from your mouth—or seeing sexual content makes it tough to keep your thoughts pure—stay away from those movies. The Bible teaches that though we’re free from the law, not everything will help us be more like Jesus (1 Corinthians 10:23). Watching movies isn’t worth tripping up in your relationship with God.

3. We want to help Christians think biblically about movies.

This is the big one. You can find out about movie content and get reviewers’ opinions from hundreds of web sites. What matters to us is that Christian students don’t check their brains and beliefs at the ticket booth.

Every story comes with a worldview—an opinion about how the world works. That worldview might be as simple as, “Evil is bad!” or as complex as the belief that all religions lead to eternity with God. Please understand: We DO NOT expect any movie to agree with our Bible-based worldview. That would be crazy. Most filmmakers aren’t Christians. And the worldview in some movies isn’t even what the writers and directors themselves believe. We get that.

What we hope is that Christian students who feel mature enough to go to movies will be able to spot the differences between what the movie “believes” and what the Bible teaches. Because if the Bible is really the truth, then anything that disagrees with it is a lie. And once you identify a lie, you take away its power. If you can’t spot the lie, it has the power to give you a wrong view of life.

We know some of you don’t want to think that much. You say, “Come on. It’s just a movie.” And you can enjoy a movie that disagrees with the Bible. In fact, movies can teach us a lot about how others see the world. But even silly movies that are just for fun teach something. We don’t have to freak out about every little lie. But if you can’t figure out why that thing is different from the Bible, you are in danger of being deceived.

That’s why most of the reviews you’ll find here will say something about how we think what the movie “believes” agrees or disagrees with what the Bible teaches. Yes, it is easier to stop thinking biblically when you go to the theater or pop in a video. But that’s when we’re the most vulnerable to being confused or misled by our entertainment. Hopefully, Christians who read these reviews will get into the habit of making those biblical comparisons for themselves.