Heaven's War

In a nutshell, "Heaven's War" is a Christian movie that depicts the struggle between angels and demons for the soul of a U.S. senator. As a Christian, I liked that the movie attempts to lower the veil between our physical world and the spiritual world. The problem is that when you go too literal in your depiction it comes across as somewhat cheesy. By the end of the movie, it seemed to me the writer had attempted to turn "A Christmas Carol" into a political thriller. Still I would recommend that people see the movie for the message.

A person's world view affects how they rate this film. Believers are glad to find a fast-pace, engaging story, with a decent plot and a biblical world view. However, non-believers tend to be offended by the blatant Christian message and less forgiving of the low-budget CGI. Basically, the ratings are pretty much driven by each reviewer's worldview.

My two cents' worth? As a Christian screenwriter, I tend to be more objective than the average Christian viewer. Basically, going to film school took away a lot of the fun I used to have watching ANY film. Now I notice all the plot holes, pay-offs without set-ups, on-the-nose dialogue, character arcs that do not grow organically from the plotline, and a thousand other things that can go amiss in any poorly-crafted film. So, for me to rate this film a "6" is my way of saying, "Wow. Pretty good job!"

I don't know if this film will help anyone make a decision for Christ - wish I could know that. But as a Christian and a filmmaker, I found this fun to watch and uplifting. Not the best film ever made, but definitely not the worst! And that, I think, is the closest this film will ever get to having an honest review. IMHO, that is.

This film is based on sound Biblical Christian doctrine dealing with spiritual warfare and the condition of the human soul. The acting, special effects and scriptwriting blend together very well. It is apparent that a lot of hard work went into this project. The director did an amazing job in bringing out the vision he had for this movie! If you are a person who enjoys watching faith based family oriented films than this is definitely for you. If you are a skeptic than perhaps not. With that said I will recommend this film to anyone who is willing to see things from a Christ centered perspective.

The film taking the viewer on a spiritual journey that most Christians have undertook at some point toward either abandoning or reaffirming their faith. A must watch if you're at that point in your spiritual journey.

Let me address the elephant in the room. Yes, this is a religious movie. Before you decide not to watch the movie let me encourage you to let go of your stereotypes and consider this one. If you are a person of faith you will definitely enjoy watching the movie and the struggles the protagonist deals with. If you aren't a person of faith have you ever had that little voice in your head guide you or tell you something and followed or ignored that little voice. Our protagonist ignored the voice and Gabriel was sent to slap some sense into him and get him to listen to the voice. His failure to listen to the voice adds conflict to the story line and pulls you in emotionally.

Yes, this is about good and evil and the filmmaker doesn't hide the fact that he is a believer. Having said all that, I am a novice screenwriter and there are so many nuggets about storytelling in this film that it should be required watching for all film students. The use of cutting from one scene to another builds excitement and anticipation. The use of CGI adds to the story but doesn't make the story about CGI. Dialogue was realistic and there are some very emotional scenes.

Again, if you are a person of faith you will enjoy it. If you aren't consider this a love story on several different levels. If you are trying to get into the business watch and learn how to put all the pieces together to create a great story with conflict that has emotional impact.