INTRO
Remember God's Not Dead? That movie where a student named Josh Wheaton hijacked several classes of a university philosophy course to fight his professor Kevin Sorbo over his disbelief in God until he's reduced to a broken mess who relents that he might have lost his faith after watching his mom die? And then they murdered him with a car? And the Newsboys? Remember that?
How about the second one? Where a teacher played by Sabrina the Teenage Witch gets put on trial for making the vague suggestion that some guy named Jesus may have been a person at some point. And then Ray Wise essentially plays the Devil and at the end the US Government apparently recognizes that Jesus is real because of terrible courtroom antics. And the Newsboys. Remember that stuff?
Well, a long time ago I, under a different name, posted some summaries/reviews of these films on a website that I'm legally not allowed to mention. I guess some people enjoyed them and when PureFlix's God's Not Dead 3: A Light in the Darkness was announced, I acclimated to the idea that I would be expected to watch yet another ultra-conservative wet dream in which the upper-middle class Christian Americans were able to rise up to overcome their extreme persecution. Things... went a bit differently this time.
For those of you who don't remember, GND2 had a post-credit stinger that left a cliffhanger leading into this third movie. I ended up walking out in the credits, because who in the hell would have expected a Marvel-style sequel tease after God's Not Dead 2? Well, it did. That (plausibly) lovable Pastor Dave finally pissed off the wrong people by not turning in copies of his sermons to the government and gets arrested. This might lead you to believe that GND3 would lead into either a dystopian sci-fi where Christians are hunted to be turned into mannequins for "evolution of man" dioramas in museums, or at the very least Pastor Dave winds up standing before the supreme court to make the US a Christian nation once and for all.
I'm pretty sure that's where this series was at one point intended to go, but something MUST HAVE happened behind the scenes, because there is a pretty hard turn with this movie.
Looking at Wikipedia, I see that GND 1&2 were both written by Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon, and directed by Harold Cronk, whose filmography is filled with other PureFlix drivel and something called Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Conspiracy, which surprisingly does not feature Troy McClure.
God's Not Dead 3 is written and directed by some guy named Michael Mason.
A quick Google leads me to an Alabama preacher named Michael Mason, whose website offers very little information, and nothing to suggest that he's the same guy. It's possible that Mason doesn't even exist. It's possible that Cronk wanted to start using an alias and slightly altered his previous character "Mickey Matson" to "Michael Mason" and this is all just part of the elaborate Copperhead Conspiracy. #PreachTheControversy
All I know is that the mission plan of the God's Not Dead series was seriously reworked in-between 2&3, and I'm genuinely curious as to why. But we'll explore that after diving into the story.
THE STORY
We open to Pastor Dave in fucking jail. Wearing a jumpsuit. Sitting under a harsh halogen light. Interspersed with this scene is the opening credits and a chunks of news programs, talk shows, YouTubers, and Facebook posts arguing over the controversy.
"Religious freedoms have been reduced to nothing."
"Pastor Dave knew what he was doing, and he belongs in jail."
"I don't want that kind of stuff on my campus!"
"We have a right to worship wherever we want!"
Protesters march outside Pastor Dave's church. Music swells and then clang! "God's Not Dead: A Light in the Darkness" It's a fairly gritty opening compared to the days of Atheist Amy chasing after the Duck Dynasty boys with her "I [Heart] Evolution" bumper sticker. And I was fully prepared to watch Pastor Dave get a bunch of prison tattoos and shank some motherfuckers on the yard. While that doesn't quite happen, there is a solemnity to this movie that's in noticeable contrast to the others. It's darker, both in tone and in color. It's also shot with shaky cam in a bunch of scenes, including one funeral scene that looks like the cameraman is actually drunk as he tries to focus on a speaking character's face.
More or less, it looked like this...
Well, he gets... bailed out? I guess. Or they just let him go. I'm not sure. There was some line like "He waits to hear his fate" right before he's released, so maybe the authorities just realized "What the hell are we going to do with a bunch of church sermons anyway? This doesn't make sense. Why would we want this? It's like PureFlix wrote this shit! Let Pastor Dave free. We are all morons."
Pastor Dave is picked up at jail by his returning partner in the-opposite-of-crime, African Preacher Friend. I know his character has a name. In-fact, by this movie I can tell you that it's Jude. But let's be real, as far as the GND scripts are concerned, he's African Preacher Friend. Unlike his random-ass arrival in GND2, he at least has an excuse to be in this movie, as he's decided to stay and officially join Dave's church as another pastor. It makes sense, as Pastor Dave thinks of him as a brother.... Like... He calls him "brother" twice in the span of five-minutes in a way that seems really disingenuous, and actually seems to be giving them a much stronger bond than the last movies would suggest, as if the creators of the movie are trying to set up some kind of emotional connection that could potentially be exploited through a traumatic circumstance--anyway, African Preacher Friend dies in an explosion in the first 10 or 15 minutes of this movie.
How does a character explode in a God's Not Dead movie? Well, in order to properly explain it, we have to go back 12 hours... Apparently. Because after his death, the movie jumps back to show us the events that led to it. For this series, it's kind of a neat stylistic choice, except that it only happens this one time, and it really doesn't seem necessary. Anyway, earlier that day we are introduced to the closest thing to a supporting protagonist in this movie--which, again, props on shaving down the side characters, Mason. She's a college student at Hadleigh University, the same stupid university where this whole stupid franchise began. Oh yeah, and did I mention that Pastor Dave's church is on the same property as the college? Because I'm pretty sure the first two movies didn't, but who could remember?
This girl's name is.... I honestly can't remember them ever saying it. Looking on IMDB, I think she was "Keaton." She's having some serious doubts about her faith. She says she just feels like these days it's all about fighting and yelling. Her boyfriend Adam has abandoned his faith long ago, and is supportive of her re-evaluating things. However, while hanging out with friends to discuss the Mandela Effect (We know what young people do!) Adam accidentally implies that Keaton isn't one of those crazy Christians. She gets mad, not wanting to be labeled as an Atheist, and storms off to the campus ministry service, catching the last 10 seconds of a praise song and the closing prayer. Good job, Keaton. That oughta get you some spiritual fulfillment.
It turns out the student ministry leader is Josh Wheaton, our know-it-all garbage boy from the first movie. Josh Wheaton is now perfect, his smugness and love of The Newsboys having elevated him to a level above mere mortals. He has an answer for every question. A bible verse for every occasion. And a speeding sedan for every smartass professor who doesn't know when to keep their goddamn mouth shut. #PreachTheControversy #JoshDidIt
Meanwhile, Adam is sad that Keaton had a fight with him over God or something, so he decides to go spraypaint God's house for revenge. He drunkenly paints an "X" over the church sign, because the creativity in modern vandalism has reached exciting new highs. Then he finds a brick and hurls it through a window. The alarm sounds and he runs off. Pastor Dave and African Preacher Friend arrive to investigate. Wouldn't you know it though? That brick hit a gas line and right as African Preacher Friend figures it out, it explodes right in his face. The church is on fire now, and Pastor Dave drags his "brother" to safety through the flames. He calls to God for some help and the sprinklers kick on to extinguish some of the flames, but APF just dies anyway as soon as he's outside. So... a little slow on the draw with that one, God.
The Hadleigh University board is meeting to discuss what to do about the church that's on their (state-owned) property, fueling protests, and now actually claiming lives directly instead of indirectly by vehicular manslaughter. Ted McGinley is one of Pastor Dave's oldest friends and is one of the more public facing and powerful member of the board, although I don't actually know what his job is. Dave mentions something about politics, so he may actually be a government official. The board wants to get rid of the church, but Ted argues to try to keep it... Then in like the next scene he meets with Dave and is like, "Dave, we got to tear down your church."
The thought of losing the church that his father built and preached at, drives Dave to go find his estranged civil rights lawyer brother Pearce in Chicago. Pearce is a cool dude. He drinks... in like every scene when he's at home. He eats Hostess snacks. He gets divorces. He laughs in the face of religion and breaks into condemned buildings as he pleases. He's everything that I strive to be. Also, start the countdown for him coming back to God at the end of the movie.
Pearce takes a pretty big role from now on, coming to stay with Dave while they work on his case and reminisce about their childhoods and stuff. As to be expected, Dave and Pearce butt heads over the whole "God" issue. What's not to be expected, yet amazingly happens is that that Pearce actually makes a lot of headway in the debate. At one point Pearce laughs how Christians have done so much harm to other people and the most minor things make them freak out about persecution. Dave tries to defend those not being real Christians, but seems kind of shook.
Dave's shook face:
During all of this, there's still the millennial agnostic girl Keaton and would-be church bomber Adam. He's super sad that he killed a guy because he got mad at church. Keaton is pretty cool about the whole thing. She says she knows it was an accident, but maybe he shouldn't tell people because... it just doesn't seem like it would go well. Adam admits that he's an atheist because he hates the church. But wait... there's more. He hates the church because when he was a kid, his dad beat his mom. She divorced. When he and his mom went to church, they called her a sinner and told her should never remarry and be happy, or it'd be adultery. Obviously, there was some mistake made in the script-writing process and a piece of criticism directed towards the church found its way into a God's Not Dead screenplay. It's crazy that nobody caught it until after the movie was made.
And it's finally time for a cameo FROM THOSE FABULOUS NEWSBOYS!
YEAH! They're on... a talk show or something.... talking about... how a cross is built..... Umm... Kind of a letdown in The Newsboys department honestly.
... Be sure to catch Rivals: God's Not Dead LIVE.
Pearce has decided the best way to make traction in the case is to sway public opinion in Dave's favor. The best way, he feels, to do this is to put all of the blame on Ted McGinley, since he's the most public figure involved. Dave's like, "Sure. What could go wrong?" And then Ted McGinley got a bunch of death threats and brick thrown through his window in front of his scared daughter. That's odd though. Christians couldn't possibly be capable of hate in a PureFlix movie. What are you getting at Mason, you diabolical son of a bitch?
Ted McGinley has some problem about bricks being thrown at his kid or something stupid like that, so he goes to give Dave a piece of his mind, and a sizable piece of his fist. They fight in front of Dave's sort of girlfriend who runs the homeless shelter. Pearce intervenes and breaks up the fight, while Dave's girlfriend offers no reaction whatsoever. Dave is really starting to feel like the piece of shit that he is, so Pearce and Josh Wheaton hang out with him for a bit. Pearce asks Josh why he gave up pursuing a law degree and what field he wanted to be in. And... I can't remember it word-for-word, but this exchange happens in the movie pretty closely:
"Pearce: What kind of law are you interested in?
Josh: Social justice. Civil rights, like you.
Pearce: Really. You don't strike me as a liberal.
Josh: I don't think justice can be broken down to a political siding.
[...]
Josh: Jesus was the ultimate social justice warrior."
Eventually Pearce and Dave get into a big fight over Pearce's initial leaving of home and Dave having to take care of their sick parents (they both got sick at the same time, I guess). Before going back to Chicago, Pearce drops the bomb that he left because Dave and their parents hated him after he gave up on Christianity. And Dave knows that he's right! It's starting to seem that maybe being a self-righteous asshole who fights people all the time isn't the most Christ-like thing to do. But... that's not what the first two God's Not Dead movies said!
WHO THE HELL IS DIRECTING THIS?! Mason, who are you?! What is your game?!
Dave gets an anonymous text that says "Adam totally blew up your church." And he flips. He goes onto the campus and finds a scared Adam walking along with his backpack. Dave pushes him to the ground and yells at him as he tries to apologize. Shocked students watch and say things like, "Yo, Pastor Dave's nuts," and "That's not very Christian." Adam goes to jail, hopefully, as Pastor Dave says, "for a long, long time." The news about the attack spreads and the fight over the church heats up.
... Hey, didn't this thing start off with some thing about churches needing to turn in their sermons to the government or get thrown in prison? What happened with that? Did they just throw that whole plot out?
Moving on...
Keaton goes to Josh Wheaton for spiritual advice. "Adam's a good guy who made a mistake and caused an accident, and Pastor Dave is a total douche. Where is God's justice?" Josh just shrugs and says, "Pastor Dave is human. God'll do something, probably." And then he flies away, sniffing his own farts. Dreaming of an infinite number of Kevin Sorbos getting hit by the world's longest car.
Dave is still struggling with the realization that he's been a jackass about his brother, and is now starting to feel like he's been a jackass about Adam. He goes to another preacher and explains how hard his life is and nobody knows what he's going through. This new preacher replies with, "I'm a black preacher in the Deep South, I can build you a church with all the bricks thrown through my window." Which, while heavy-handed, does kind of underline how much Dave sucks in a satisfactory way, as if this new preacher has somehow wandered in from the movie's audience to tell Dave off.
Keaton comes to Dave and asks him if he's thought about why Adam would want to throw a brick through a church window. Dave actually does some real pastoring, and goes to visit him in jail. Adam then admits that he sent the anonymous text, in a vain hope that Dave might forgive him instead of beating him up in front of his friends. Pastor Dave gives him a Bible that belonged to African Preacher Friend and accepts his apology.
At last, we reach our climax. Another protest is happening in front of the burned church. One half carries "God's Not Dead" and "Religious Freedom" signs. The other "First Amendment" and "Not at my school" signs. Pastor Dave and Ted McGinley make peace and then go up to stand in front of the church. And the greatest plot twist of all time happens.
Pastor Dave says, "I'm sorry." He admits that he let his pride and arrogance lead him to carry on a fight that didn't need to be fought. He says to tear down the church and put up a student center that everyone on campus can get some use out of and Josh can even lead his campus ministry on Sundays. Dave will just build a church somewhere else, but in the meantime, everyone should strive to work together as a community and stop fighting pointlessly. He gives a speech that seems to completely undercut all of the grandstanding and strawmanning of the last two movies.
There's even a shot, where after Dave calls for peace, an angry student brandishing a "God's Not Dead" sign slowly and sadly lowers it until the words fade into the shadows of the people around it. It's a visualization that directly states "It's time to stop with the grandstanding bullshit that the first movie encouraged."
It's unbelievable.
God's Not Dead... The same God's Not Dead that argued Jesus must exist because of B.C./A.D. The God's Not Dead that has treated every atheist character like a monster to either be redeemed by Christianity or destroyed for their lack of faith. The God's Not Dead that features Duck Dynasty, Mike Huckabee, and I guess some NRA lady in this one, but I don't know what that asshole looks like, so I couldn't tell you. God's Not Dead just said love and kindness is the only thing that really matters and we need to try to listen and understand each other instead of proving a point and starting shit.
That's the end! There's only a final wrap-up montage showing Pearce give Dave a call from Chicago to show that the two are on good terms, Dave and Ted breaking ground on a new church, and Keaton finding some peace with her religion. Pearce stayed an atheist! And the movie was fine with it! Ted McGinley is shown to be a decent Christian man who was just working in his community's best interest, even if it seemed anti-church to the public. Keaton is rewarded for asking tough questions.
....
FINAL THOUGHTS
A lot of times people will say that a movie is "a roller coaster." It means that you felt a rush of different emotions. You felt highs and lows. You were constantly being surprised. GND 3 was a roller coaster. Not a joke. Not hyperbole. I was so goddamned shocked by this movie. It goes so far away from what I would expect from the series. It seems to downright condemn its predecessors at times. By the end, I actually felt a stronger emotional response than probably any movie I've seen so far this year (Double checks to see when Blade Runner came out). There was something genuinely uplifting about seeing this monument to conservative Christian America stop and say, "You know, maybe we screwed up. Maybe we should change." I cannot believe this is the same series.
I'm not saying that this movie is good. On a technical level it's pretty standard, and there's still a lot of problems with aspects of its philosophy. Let's not get started with representation and how basic the characters are. There's still the idea that atheists are atheists because they're angry, but at least this time they didn't hammer it home as hard as they hammered that car through Sorbo's face. I barely mentioned that there's a romance subplot, but hey, so did the movie. It's really only interesting in the meta-context of its series. But man, what a step forward. There's actual spiritual searching here, there are questions being asked. They've update their stance so hard that they've moved beyond texting people "God's Not Dead" and now just have an app.
And hey, Mason... You tried to do a couple of things. A flashback. Some fancy editing here and there. The church fire scene looked alright. Not a bad first try.
I guess what it all comes down to is that never in a million years would I have expected to walk out of a God's Not Dead movie with a sense of optimism. Today, the unthinkable happened. Again, I don't think it's revolutionary, but the fact that it's a step in the right direction at all is mindblowing.
I'm so happy that the audiences who love these movies will finally have to face real questions and come to...
Of fucking course this is the first one in the series to bomb.
Yeah, I Can Only Imagine, the movie about the guy who wrote that song is stealing all of GND's audience. I honestly haven't heard anyone even mention GND3 outside of ResetERA.
In fact, I guess this movie's box office failure proves that the Ted McGinley curse is stronger than God Almighty himself.
Oh well...
You did your best Mason... That's all I could have asked for.
I'm Lionel Mand-... I'm... Whatever the hell my name is now. Goodnight.
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