The movie was very moving.
What the critics have looked for is a reason to bag it. At first they decided Gibson was a looney for even attempting a movie in Aramaic, with no Hollywood backing. Then they criticised him for not having sub-titles. Then when it became apparent that it was looking popular, they bagged him for being anti-semetic.
Then they realised it was popular and indeed a pretty darn good portrayal of Christ's suffering. So now they choose to bag it as a cinematic work. They criticise its aspects in relation to how well it used to genre, what they felt, how well it was written etc.
What they fail to see is that it is not about the money, the reviews, the critics, the script, the cinematography etc. It is about trying to make a movie that accurately shows the pain and intense suffering that Jesus went through in the act of dying. It is not Mel's story to tell, he is just blessed with the gifts, experience and money to make the movie that the world needed to see.
I'd encourage people to go and check it out - it ripped me in two pieces, and I'd be surprised if people did not feel even the slightest bit gutted by the end of it.
