THE STORY – Renowned writer Charles Dickens shares the story of Jesus Christ with his son, Walter. As his father narrates the stirring tale, Walter becomes captivated with the events of Jesus’ life.
THE CAST – Kenneth Branagh, Uma Thurman, Mark Hamill, Pierce Brosnan, Roman Griffin Davis, Forest Whitaker, Ben Kingsley & Oscar Isaac
THE TEAM – Seong-ho Jang (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 101 Minutes
Both Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” and the story of Jesus are two of the most widely adapted stories in the history of film, each with countless versions, twists, and new angles of their own. It seems inevitable that a Dickens/Jesus mashup would arrive at some point. Hailing from Angel Studios, “The King of Kings” loosely adapts Dickens’s “The Life of Our Lord,” a children’s book he wrote exclusively for his children (and, by the way, never wanted to be read by the public). This animated family film showcases Jesus’s life through the perspective of Dickens reading a bedtime story to his son Walter. While this certainly brings a unique framing device to a very familiar narrative, the story plays out in a surprisingly conventional manner, making for a dull retelling of the Gospels.
An all-star voice cast brings these characters to life, with Kenneth Branagh starring as Dickens himself, narrating much of the film as he tells the story to his youngest son, Walter (Roman Griffin Davis). Walter’s over-active imagination has been causing trouble for the family lately, acting out the thrilling adventures of King Arthur and tales of knights and dragons and heroes, all complete with a surprisingly sharp wooden sword. However, his pretend playing gets out of hand, even interrupting his father’s reading of “A Christmas Carol” on stage in front of a large audience. In an effort to calm Walter down, Charles’ wife Catherine (Uma Thurman) convinces Charles to tell Walter a bedtime story of a different sort: the story of Jesus. They hope that, while the Gospels are still full of action and swordfights, perhaps the message of peace can calm the boy down.
What made Dickens’ “The Life of Our Lord” a more unique telling of the Gospels was his wit, giving the familiar story a new perspective. That’s lost in “The King of Kings.” For the first two-thirds of the film, there’s nearly constant narration from Dickens, and yet it’s a pretty straightforward description of the stories we find in the Gospels. The animation places Charles and Walter inside the story, observing the action as it happens, but they don’t impact the story in any way. Of course, one wouldn’t expect Walter to change the story of Jesus, but it’s ultimately pointless for us to watch the father and son observing this story without uniquely commenting on it in some way. The boy doesn’t even get into comedic scrapes while running around the desert; they just…observe.
Without much of a perspective, despite the constant narration, this plays out more like a greatest hits compilation of the life of Jesus rather than a cohesive narrative. To be fair, that’s essentially how the Gospels read as well, but it feels quite different in a children’s animated film. Oscar Isaac voices Jesus, bringing a calming yet commanding tone to the stories. The voice performances for the ancient side of this film largely play the voices earnestly, a seemingly wise choice to not bring too much silliness to the Biblical tale, but it doesn’t help to give the film much of a perspective. Mark Hamill voices King Herod, with Forest Whitaker as Peter, Pierce Brosnan as Pontius Pilate, Ben Kingsley as High Priest Caiaphas, and Jim Cummings as the Pharisees. The sincerity of the performances is satisfactory, but when paired with straightforward storytelling, “The King of Kings” is simply too reverent. That’s understandable, but it makes for bland storytelling.
Further, the animation doesn’t elevate the story either. Its serviceable yet rubbery animation works but never surprises. There are occasional hand-drawn interludes, such as illustrating the story of Passover, that are a bit more impressionistic and interesting, but those are only fleeting moments. What makes the animation worse, actually, are the credits. While an unfortunately corny original song from Kristen Chenoweth, “Live Like That,” plays, the credits showcase hand-drawn concept art for the film. This concept art is leaps and bounds better than the actual animation in the film. The characters are stunning, with real emotion and energy in their faces, but sadly, they have lost all of that personality in the computer animation. Had the film looked half as good as the concept art, perhaps it would’ve been better.
The narration starts to fade away in the back half of the film as the story takes its darker turn, while Walter mostly just watches and weeps as Jesus is crucified. The film is an adequate interpretation of Jesus’ life, but there’s just nothing special here. While having Charles Dickens, one of the greatest storytellers ever, narrate the film, there should’ve been a more fascinating way to tell the life of Jesus. Ultimately, “The King of Kings” will function as a way for eager parents to try to interest their kids in their religion, but it’s unlikely to be a new favorite.
