JUDGMENT

JUDGMENT is the next video in the Cloud Ten series that includes APOCALYPSE, REVELATION and TRIBULATION. In this pre-millennial world, the Supreme Leader of Earth has solidified his rule. Now, he wants to get rid of the rest of the Christians, who are called the haters. To flush them out of hiding, he stages a show trial of Helen Hannah, one-time news anchor, now turned Christian.

Helen is assigned the alcoholic but brilliant attorney Mitch Kendrick. The prosecutor is Victoria Thorn, a ruthlessly ambitious attorney. Thorn knows a secret about Mitch which can destroy his career. As the trial progresses, and the phony evidence against Hannah piles up, Mitch decides that her best defense is to put God Himself on the dock. Of course, all of the secular, atheist criticisms of the Christian faith are posited. Mitch and Helen’s response leads to quoting the famous founder of the Harvard Law School, Simon Greenleaf, who concluded that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ was the best testified event in human history. In the process of the trial, Mitch begins to question his own lack of faith. Meanwhile, one of Hannah’s friends, played by Mr. T, decides it’s time to take action to free Hannah before the Antichrist puts her to death.

JUDGMENT has some well-crafted moments, especially the scenes between Corbin Bernsen who plays Mitch and Leigh Lewis who plays Helen. There are also some excellent, very dramatic, trial scenes. In one, Mitch demonstrates the validity of absolute truth by using simple math.

The production is dragged down, however, by some brief awkward moments in the beginning, especially where Ms. Lewis and Mr. T come on a little too strong in a couple scenes. They soon settle into their roles, however. Also, the superficial character written for Mr. T did not seem to fit with the other characters. Perhaps, he deserved a script better suited to his action persona. He has a couple good scenes at the end, however.

These are just minor quibbles. What was more bothersome was the fact that the trial of God is never satisfactorily resolved. Instead, the last part of the movie focused more on the inner struggles in Mitch. This was a very dramatic story, to say the least, but the filmmakers should have settled the questions that arise when Mitch decides the trial is about God, not about Hannah.

In one sense, the movie has two stories: one about the trial of God and another about Mitch’s lack of faith. The second story is neatly resolved, but the first story is not fully resolved. Still, it was really great to see a movie wrestle with real questions about the issue of faith, instead of just giving the Christian characters a bunch of spiritual platitudes to mouth. Compared to the questions and issues with which most movies wrestle, those raised by JUDGMENT elevate and deepen the story and characters rather than cheapen them. JUDGMENT beautifully personalizes these questions and issues by focusing on Mitch’s crisis of faith, but once it puts God on the dock, it should have given some thought to letting God actually speak for Himself, perhaps in a miraculous way, and thereby resolve the conflict which this storyline establishes for the viewers.

This video is not going to hurt anyone. In fact, it may help many people resolve their own important questions of faith.

Of course, the Bible does not identify the notion of the Antichrist with any one single individual. In fact, the Apostle John suggests in 1 John 4:1-6 that there are many Antichrists. John defines the Antichrist in Verse 3 as “every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus.” Furthermore, John says in 1 John 2:18, “Even now many Antichrists have arisen.” Thus, our battle for Christ may occur on many fronts, not just one or two. As Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 6:12, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of the dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” God will be the victor in this spiritual struggle.