The moon is darker than I thought

Movie Review: Transformers 3 Dark of the Moon

This will be a first for this blog and while it has little to no relevance for my readers who are used to thoughtful spiritual commentary – it does deal with giant transforming robots and lots of explosions, so I’m going to give it a pass.

It will come as no surprise to any of you who know me well that I have been looking forward to this movie since it was announced as a studio project well over a year ago. It was a chance for Michael Bay and co. to rebound from the universally panned “Revenge of the Fallen” and finish off this franchise with a movie worthy of the source material. I’ll leave my final thoughts for the end of the review – but suffice it to say, if the goal was to produce a better film than ROTF – Mr. Bay has succeeded.

At this point I should probably warn you that this review WILL contain spoilers so if you’re averse to those kinds of things I suggest you just bookmark the page and read the post after you’ve seen the movie yourself.

The plot unfolds once again with a bit of revisionist history. In the first movie we had the story of Sector 7 and the real reason the Hoover Dam was built. In Revenge of the Fallen we have the story of how the pyramids were really built (spoiler: it was the robots) and in this movie, as the title would imply, Michael Bay amps up the moon landing conspiracy to incorporate a back-story including cover-up, treason, a crashed ship and powerful humans working with the Decepticons since the 1960s. In this (which serves as the introduction to the film) we have a really interesting blend of new footage blended with archived newsreel to place seeds of conspiracy into the famous stories we all grew up reading about (or watching if you’re of the appropriate generation).

Carly circa 1986 and 2011

After the introduction and historical back story we jump once again into the life of our human protagonist Sam Witwicky (Shia Laboeuf). Sam has now finished college and is shacking up with his girlfriend Carly (an obvious reference to Carly Witwicky the wife of Spike Witwicky in the original cartoon series – Spike is the character that Sam was based on when he was first conceived). Carly is played by former Victoria Secret model and Hollywood newcomer Rosie Huntington-Whitely who steps into the role of eye-candy for the franchise’s third instalment. There was a lot of controversy over the “firing” of Megan Fox for this third film and the abandonment of her character Mikkela Barnes from the story.  And in truth the transition was handled poorly in my opinion. We got two or three off-handed comments about Sam being dumped (her name was never mentioned in dialogue – she was just the ex-girlfriend) and no real understanding of why. While the character of Carly was much less developed than Mikkela’s was (and the connection with the audience suffered as a result) I happen to think that Rosie Huntington-Whitely was an upgrade on Megan Fox in the acting department. She brought considerably more likeability the character than we had seen in the female leads from the previous two films and the raunchiness was considerably toned down in this film from the previous two (particularly when compared to the Revenge of the Fallen which raised the bar for unnecessary sexualisation to new heights). Other than a gratuitous leg-shot when we were first introduced to her character, Carly (while always dressed to be noticeably beautiful) was treated by the director with a lot more dignity than Mikkela ever was. Anyway Sam is unemployed and living with the frustration of having saved the world twice, received a medal of bravery from the president, graduated from an Ivy League university and still not being able to find a job. A good chunk of the movie here focuses on the comical aspects of Sam’s search for employment, frustration with the interests of Carly’s rich and attractive boss in his girlfriend and an unravelling Decepticon plot surrounding the ship crashed on the dark side of the moon – this time around we learn the that Decepticons have human collaborators.

In Revenge of the Fallen the story arc for Sam was all about wanting to be normal and realising that the circumstances of his life weren’t going to let him be – the idea being that some of us are destined for greater things and when the call comes we need to be ready to respond. Optimus tells him that “Fate rarely calls upon us in a moment of our choosing” and Sam’s journey is coming to terms with the fact that the chance of being normal disappeared long ago – he was someone special and he needed to accept the costs of that reality. In DOTM by contrast Sam has been largely sidelined by the powers that be – pushed into the background, sworn to secrecy and turned into a nobody. He can’t even land a decent job out of university and he desperately wants to get back to living a life that matters. Of course circumstances unfold that thrust him into that position again and in the end Sam learns the lesson that what really matters isn’t being important - it’s being with the ones you love; as Sam defiantly walks into a Chicago under siege to rescue Carly who has been taken hostage by the human antagonist of the film.

Should have been Rodimus

Along the way we are introduced to a number of new robotic characters from the Autobot’s shuttle maintenance crew dubbed the Wreckers (after an elite squad of warriors from the comic universes) who all transform into Nascar vehicles armed to the teeth, to Dino –  a confusingly Italian Autobot who turns into a Ferrari (should have been Rodimus – but I’m biased), and Que – a strange, crazy old man robot who looks a little like caricatures of Albert Einstein and dispenses gadgets like his James Bond film namesake. None of them really make an impact on the film (although Que does provide the means for a couple of significant character deaths – including his own) and could have probably been done without to give more screen time to previously established characters. On the Decepticon side we are introduced to Shockwave – a hulking Autobot killing machine and a very different Megatron. The most important robot to the plot of this movie however is Sentinel Prime – the lone survivor from the Autobot shuttle crash on the moon and the key to everything that happens in this movie.

Sentinel Prime was the Autobot leader before Optimus (an idea that has been echoed in many different Transformers continuities over the years). During the final throes of the Great War he left Cybertron in a ship called the Ark with a technology that could turn the tide of the war for the Autobots. Unfortunately his ship was attacked by Decepticons and presumed destroyed.  In reality it was badly damaged and crash landed on Earth’s moon where it was supposed to make a rendezvous.  The technology that he was carrying was a form of Spacebridge technology (interstellar teleportation if you will) and upon learning of the Ark’s existence Optimus and Ratchet bring Sentinel and the remaining Spacebridge pillars back to Earth. It is here that Optimus uses the Transformers franchise’s favourite Deus Ex Machina, the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, to revive his former commander and set the wheels of the plot in motion.

The problem with all of this was that the Autobots only recovered 6 of the hundreds of pillars that were stored aboard the Ark – someone else had been looting the ship long before they got there – and I’ll give you one guess as to whom. Sam eventually learns of the cover-up at NASA and the Soviet Space Agency and the Decepticons involvement. The Decepticons want the spacebridge but since only Sentinel can operate it and since only Optimus possessed the means to revive him they needed the Autobots to be unwitting pawns in their plan – with the resurrection of Sentinel Prime – Megatron’s master plan was advancing. Which is somewhat appropriate because most of the plot for this movie is ripped off of a combination of two story arcs from the original cartoon series – the first being Megatron’s Master Plan (Part One, Part Two) and the second being the Ultimate Doom (Part One, Part Two, Part Three). Sam discovers what’s going on and alerts the Autobots that Sentinel is the key and needs to be protected at all costs. Then the mayhem (or is it Bayhem) starts.

The special effects kick into high gear and we get some shots that I can only imagine were designed for maximum 3D experience (I don’t fully know as I saw the movie in the more traditional format) and all hell breaks loose as the major plot twist is revealed of who Sentinel was originally coming to Earth to rendezvous with – Megatron. The traitor’s colours are shown and things go downhill fast for the Autobots and the rest of planet Earth.

More explosions, more deaths, more drama and eventually the city of Chicago is all but levelled as Sentinel and Megatron attempt to bring Cybertron into Earth’s orbit and enslave the human race to rebuild their war-torn world. Eventually (as one would expect) the good guys win (at a cost) and right near the end we get our two trademark Michael Bay shots, the first in slow motion with Carly looking shell shocked as things explode all around her and the second at the end we get a shot of the exhausted but victorious heroes standing tall with a tattered American flag blowing majestically in the background (it’s a fun game to play when watching ANY Michael Bay movie to find the “flag” moment – it’s in all of them).

At the end we are left with a definite conclusion to the story with all of the antagonists dead, a couple key protagonists paying the ultimate price for victory and the rolling of the Linkin Park movie anthem welcoming the credits.

My initial reaction to the film was awe.

I couldn’t believe the scale of what was happening on the screen – I have never seen anything bigger from a special effects perspective in my life. This is what action movies are made of. But as I thought about it more and more my perspective on the film soured.

I realized as I reflected that the movie brought little to no joy. The scale was bigger, the stakes more epic but there was none of that child-like wonder that I experienced with the first movie – seeing my favourite franchise brought to life. There weren’t even the geek-out moments in this film like I experienced in ROTF when we first got sight of Devastator and witnessed the live-action interpretation of a combiner. During production Bay compared this story to a Black Hawk Down sort of situation. He said it would be darker and more intense – and it was. I found that rather than cheering through the over the top action sequences I was watching them with an unexpected uncomfortableness. The shock and awe of the action left me feeling like Carly in the afore mentioned scene – shell shocked and stunned.

The plot was better than ROTF but there were still glaring holes. Having been spoiled about a month earlier by the novelization of the movie and knowing the general story arc in advance there were so many small things that could have been changed that would have gone a long way to making the story tighter, making the audience care more about the characters and making deaths more meaningful. And last night as I reflected on those things I was left wondering how much of the original story was discarded by Bay to feed his own gratuitous action fetishes (the novelization was pretty good and Bay was accused of similar hack and slash edits by the story writers for ROTF).

It’s interesting once again to note that the professional critics are decrying DOTM as the “most unpleasant movie watching experiences” they’ve had to endure. Currently it’s sitting at only 38% on the Rotten Tomatoes index – conversely the non-professional critics have rated it at 90%. This is one of those films that will reveal a disconnect between the pros and joes when it comes to movie preferences. I don’t think that DOTM is nearly as bad as the critics want you to believe – but it’s also not nearly as good as I had hoped it would be or as I think it could have been. I am a Transformers fan so I will go an see it again when it comes to Estevan (and this time in 3D) and I will buy the special edition blu-ray disc when it comes out sometime just before Christmas. But I can’t help feeling a little disappointed with a movie that I looked forward to as much as this one. I give DOTM 3 stars out of 5.

For those of you who are interested – despite its PG rating I would NOT recommend DOTM for kids under 12. The content is remarkably cleaner than ROTF (the humour and innuendo in this movie is a little more high-brow than the last) but the violence is so graphic and the action so intense that I think it would be nightmare fodder for younger minds.

Until next time,

Chris

Celebrating Dads

In the church too often we don't practice equality. Mother’s Day is a big day. Lots of people come and you can’t get a seat in a restaurant for the life of you after church. On Father’s Day though the crowds are usually smaller and most people chose to stay home and BBQ. On Mother’s Day preachers usually preach wonderful sermons about mothers; extolling the virtues of everything that mothers do for us. Thanking them for what they sacrifice and acknowledging all that they do for us – and after mother’s day we all leave with a warm fuzzy feeling. The only residual guilt people accumulate during a mother’s day sermon is the guilt of not having done enough to humour their moms!

But on Father’s Day we preachers have a tendency to unload on dads for not fulfilling their responsibilities, not rising to a higher standard, not manning up enough and so on. It’s like too many preachers have grown up with father’s who told them that they never measured up and are using their sermons to return the favour. I read this week about one dad who when he left the service after such a father’s day sermon said to his wife, “if this is Father’s Day, then the first day of duck season ought to be called ‘Duck’s Day.’”  Too often Father’s day is open season on Dads.

Last Sunday evening as I started to pray and prepare for this week’s sermon I came to the conviction that as a dad I need a little encouragement and praise from time to time too. The fact of the matter is that despite the failings of fathers in the world these days most of us work really hard at being good dads. When Jesus talks about prayer to our Heavenly Father in Luke 11 he reasons that we can trust God because generally fatherhood is a good thing, and dads want to treat their kids well. Well I know many men in my life that are good fathers, and despite their shortcomings they aspire to be good men who raise up their children the best way they know how. We men are often trying our level best to be good dads - so this year, instead of berating them for their failings, I want to take a Sunday and give Fathers the Mother's day treatment. This Sunday we celebrate dads and all they do for us and look at what we're doing that the scriptures affirm as "good". 

See you on Sunday.

Bringing Clarification

A number of people have approached me this week after hearing my Pentecost sermon, "Eternity is closer than you think" (link to Mp3 file of message) with questions about the theology I espoused in the message. Particularly the centrality of the resurrection for all humanity in our eternity future and the idea the the final destination for a resurrected and glorified humanity was not floating around in the clouds in the place we commonly refer to as heaven - but in a perfect physical existence here in a renewed and restored creation.

I advocated that much like I had grown up misunderstanding the Lord's Prayer through the oft-repeated and heavily distorted PA system of my elementary school (if you want to hear the punch-line to that one I suggest listening to the message) that we have heard a pop-culture caricature of the afterlife so often as Christians that we've lost our bearings on what the Bible actually says about the matter.

This is not a trivial issue. The doctrine of resurrection is at the centre of Christian theology. It forms the basis for or future hope of spending eternity with Jesus and it was one of the dynamic differences between the teaching of the early church and the surrounding religious view-points of its day (neither the Sadducees or the Greeks were proponents of the type of resurrection that the church was teaching). For that reason I felt that it would be down-right negligent as a pastor to focus so sharply on the resurrection of Christ as the beginning of all things for the believer but ignore it's central role in the end of things as well.

Now the goal of a preacher is to bring clarity to the Word, and by the power of the Holy Spirit bring illumination so that a greater understanding of the person, character, and plan of God for the lives of those who are in Christ can be found. It would seem to me today as I ponder the conversations I've had since the weekend that at least for some of you that wasn't the case. As the preacher I have to own that and work harder and bringing clarity rather than confusion - I make no apologies for rattling cages and challenging hearts, but if I have made murky the Word of God I ask for forgiveness.

So to at least attempt to undo some of the confusion that may have been caused by the message last Sunday I want to provide you with some (hopefully) helpful links and resources to further your personal study of God's Word in this area.

The first is a book that has been heavily influential in my understanding and articulation of this theology. Surprised By Hope is one of the more important books written in the last ten years (IMHO). It is a direct challenge to the church to understand what the real hope of life in Christ is and how we are settling for sharing a watered-down and hope-deprived gospel with the world when the news of the New Testament is so much more exciting. I've just ordered a couple copies of this book for our church library so that you can borrow it and read it for yourself - but I wold highly recommend that you purchase your own copy and take the time to really process what N.T. Wright has to say. If you lack either the time or the will to tackle the 300 pages contained within the covers of this book allow me to direct you to the following article - a short, four-page summary of the hope of the resurrection written by the author for Christianity Today magazine in an Easter feature.

Heaven Is Not Our Home | Christianity Today

And if you're looking for a more formal endorsement from someone else within the ranks of our denomination (after all who am I to tell you what to read?) then I'd direct you to the following blog post from our President Dr. Franklin Pyles who gives a fair review of Wright's work and gives it a thumbs-up despite some differences of opinion in eschatology. By way of further endorsement (because Wright is not without his detractors as well and you may have read some of them) this book has also been placed on the mandatory ordination reading list for people wishing to be ordained in the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada.

Rebirthing Simpson's Vision: Some Hope at Last!

Lastly, I want to link you to an outline of my message from this past Sunday. One of the things that I believe contributed to the confusion some may have experienced is that we are used to having an outline for our sermons with all the relevant scripture passages and key points spelled out for reference and personal study. Seeing as we had an outdoor service on a windy Saskatchewan day we opted to not put a lot of paper in the hands of the congregation thus there was no outline - but I understand how it could be helpful so I'm providing one for you here. Please use it if you want to go back and re-listen to the message for clarity. I hope you find it helpful.

Eternity is closer than you think - Outline

As always, my desire is to help you grow in your walk with the Lord. And if you ever want to come in and chat with me abut this topic or any other I'd be more than happy to see you. Thanks for taking the time to read then and God bless you as you continue to study the Word of God both on your own as together with us as the Church.

Chris

Eternity is closer than you think

We’ve been tracking through this Easter season – from the resurrection to Pentecost – 50 days of looking at the implications of the resurrection and our rally cry has been Sunday is only the beginning.

That Sunday morning when they found Jesus alive was only the beginning of the story of God’s plan for his people: 

It was only the beginning of how he was showing us mercy – Peter could attest to that. 

It was only the beginning of him obliterating our unbelief with his awesome truth – Thomas could attest to that. 

It was only the beginning of him changing the way we value and treat each other – Mary Magdalene could attest to that. 

It was only the beginning of all people from all places being welcomed into his family – the gentiles could attest to that. 

It was only the beginning of his love relationship with his people – the church can attest to that.

I’ve recently been embroiled in a home renovation project. And by I’ve recently been embroiled I mean that a wonderfully generous friend has done 95% of the work for me while I followed behind him and picked up supplies, got him drinks and did a little bit of electrical wiring. We were moving around some walls in the basement and expanding one room to make space for Joanna’s music studio. I remember the first Day that James showed up to begin the demolition. I thought that it would only take an evening and then we’d be onto a few days of construction. That night there were lots of noisy sounds and lots of banging happening as James tore down the room; the next day it continued, and the day after it. Eventually he came upstairs and told us that he was done. I went down to take a look at his handiwork. And before my eyes in the basement was a huge new space – all the work that James had done had become apparent. Everything was just as it was supposed to be, all the surfaces were clean the basement was now remarkably open concept – it was totally transformed from what it was before – but there no walls.

James had finished the demolition. But the room was not yet built. There was nothing lacking, or incomplete or undone about that job. That one task had been completed perfectly – but there was much left to do. James gave me a list of supplies he would need me to order for him to build what we had asked for in that new space and the next day construction began.

Resurrection Sunday was a lot like the end of demolition. The decks were cleared, the obstacles removed. A place was made for us to come and build our lives with Jesus. But it was only really the beginning. Sunday was not Jesus standing on an aircraft carrier with a mission accomplished banner behind him proclaiming that everything was finished – it was Jesus standing with a hard hat on, in an empty lot saying – let’s build something together.

Hear the rest this Sunday at our Pentecost celebration service.  Free breakfast begins at 9:00am followed by an outdoor celebration service in the parking lot at 10:30! Wear sunscreen and bring a friend!

Why leaving is better...

Well – it’s officially June and we’re into wedding season officially now. The thoughts of many young couples have turned to dreams of white dresses, big parties, family celebrations and the beginning of a new life together. It’s a wonderful and whimsical time of the year and for our part whether young or old, many of us will end up attending a wedding this summer. And while every couple will put their own unique spin on the day’s festivities most weddings in this part of the world will have more in common than not:

Whatever wedding you go to the Bride will look radiant.

The Groom will almost always be nervous

It will be a bittersweet day for the couple’s parents

Someone will ALWAYS be forgotten when it comes to writing thank you cards

But the one thing that all weddings have in common for sure is that every successful wedding begins a long time before the wedding day with lots and lots of planning.

From the moment the groom gets down on one knee and asks the most terrifying question of his life until the moment when the pastor gives the couple permission to kiss in church – not a day goes by that is not at least somewhat interrupted with wedding thoughts and details.

Finding a church, finding a Pastor, finding a venue for the reception and a caterer to provide food; finding a band or a DJ for the reception, sorting out the guest list, preparing and sending invitations, selecting the bridal party, planning a honeymoon and of course...Finding the dress.

And what do we (generally) do just as we get close to the big day? Well the couple separates and the groom is not allowed to see the bride until the moment she starts walking down that aisle. She leaves her husband-to-be and goes away to make herself beautiful for her wedding day so that when he finally sees her she takes his breath away.

It’s a terribly romantic moment – brought on by months or years of anticipation and waiting – and in God’s divine plan for people it marks the beginning of a whole new way of living in this world. And as you are reading this and your thoughts are drawn back to weddings you’ve attended or perhaps your own wedding I want you to realise something very profound – that event is merely a shadow of what is waiting for the church when her bridegroom returns for her.

This weekend we mark Ascension Sunday. It’s the day we celebrate and remember Jesus leaving this world after spending forty days in his resurrected body teaching and preaching to the early church. I’ve personally always found it a confusing day to celebrate – why would be happy about Jesus leaving? Isn’t the whole idea of Christianity to do what it takes to bring him back?

To welcome the King back to his kingdom?

To reunite the Bride of Christ with her Bridegroom?

In some ways these (weddings and the ascension) seem to be topics that have no commonality. Weddings are about coming together in celebration, they are about a couple giving themselves to each other in holy matrimony – becoming one flesh. We quote Matthew 19 in weddings – “what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Weddings and leaving don’t really fit together thematically – so what does this have to do with that?

Join us this Sunday at 10:30 to discover along with us just why when it comes to weddings – both human and heavenly – Leaving is better.

The voice of creation

The heavens declare the glory of God;
   the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
   night after night they display knowledge. 
They have no speech, they use no words;
   no sound is heard from them. 
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
   their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, 
   which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
   like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens
   and makes its circuit to the other;
   nothing is deprived of its warmth.

Psalm 19:1-6

Now watch it happen:

Two-hundred and eighty-six

Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you? Don’t you know that you have the Holy Spirit from God, and you don’t belong to yourselves? You have been bought and paid for, so honour God with your body.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (CEB)

Two-hundred and Eighty-Six. That's how many pounds are hanging on this sixty-six inch frame. Does that alarm you?


As a pastor, If I were to tell you that I was struggling with drug addiction would you be concerned? If I were to blog here that I'm struggling with pornography would it bother you? If I confessed to being a smoker would you be calling the first board of elder's member you could find in the church directory to lodge a complaint about me as a leader? I imagine that you would - and if I were in your hypothetical shoes I probably would too. So why is it that gluttony and sloth (the two families of sins that most commonly contribute to someone becoming as obese as me) get a free pass on the list of sins that concern us in our leaders?


I'm not looking for someone to come alongside and berate me and tell me what a horrible person I am in this - I'm a sinner saved by grace and I'm acutely aware of my own depravity and need of grace but I bring this up because for some reason we give certain sinful behaviours a free pass and others we come down so hard on that I wonder if we believe that grace is even possible.


Why do we treat unrepentant homosexuals as abominations yet invite the fat guy chowing down on his third plateful of food at the church potluck to be an Elder? What is the difference between these sins? Are they not both condemned as sinful in scripture? Are they both not contrary to God's will for humanity? Why do we treat one group as less than human and turn a blind eye to the other?


I live by grace - and I believe that Christ's grace is sufficient for me - but as I taught recently at church, grace always comes with a call to live differently. Whether it was Peter's call to shepherd the flock of God or the woman caught in adultery receiving a call to righteousness (go and sin no more). I believe that Grace calls me to not waste the second chances that I have received and to live differently. Personally I think there is a call for me in the words of Peter in his first epistle:


You have wasted enough time doing what unbelievers desire—living in their unrestrained immorality and lust, their drunkenness and excessive feasting and wild parties, and their forbidden worship of idols.

1 Peter 4:3 (CEB)

I need to fix what is wrong with me and in the power of the Holy Spirit take control of the things that have control of me. I need to do what it takes to overcome my weaknesses and walk in the grace that God has extended to me. That is why I'm going public with this - I can't do it alone. I am committing to weekly updates on my battle with the bulge in this blog. I give you permission to harass me (in love) and ask me what I'm doing to respond to the call Christ has given me and I'm asking you to hold me to a higher standard as your leader (those of you reading this from EAC) - not as a man who is perfect - but as a man who is following after Christ. 2 Summers ago I managed to drop 46 lbs without any fad diets - just by living sensibly. Let's see if this year I can do better.


Thanks for indulging me in this and we'll see what I title next week's blog. 


Until later,
Chris