Hope in Trying Times, Stewardship, Reconciliation, and Restoration: A Faith- Based Look at 'Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.'

Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Nightcrawler Experience!
Hope everyone is bearing up well under the continued quarantine, and continuing to stay safe and healthy!
I'll be continuing my look at the 'Lord of the Rings' film trilogy by looking at the second (And probably my personal favorite) entry in them, 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.'

Unlike in the previous film, 'The Fellowship of the Ring,' in which the heroes largely kept together and there was one major narrative, the Fellowship is now divided after the death of Boromir, and as such there are now three different major storylines going on:
First up, Frodo Baggins and his friend Samwise Gamgee are continuing on their journey to Mount Doom to destroy the Ring. They soon run into the twisted creature Gollum (Andy Serkis), who had once possessed the Ring, which he famously refers to as "My Precious," for a long period and is determined to get it back. He eventually is convinced to help guide them on their trip, and we see that he is kind of wrestling between two different personalities, one friendly and the other not- so- much (They are differentiated by the fact that the latter personality is generally referred to as "Gollum," while the former personality is referred to by his real/ former name, "Smeagol"). They eventually have an encounter with their late comrade Boromir's younger brother Faramir, who is held to much lower regard by their father (Especially as seen in a wonderful yet sad scene in the Extended Edition in which the brothers celebrate a victory only to have their celebrations ruined by their overbearing father arriving and praising Boromir while nastily criticizing Faramir, favoritism at its worst), and consequently is eager to prove himself and believes that bringing the Ring back to their kingdom is the perfect way to do so. The Hobbits try their hardest to convince Faramir to let them go, not realizing that the seed of betrayal has been planted in Gollum's heart.

The second subplot involves the other two Hobbits, Merry and Pippin. We see them initially the prisoners of the orcs, as they were at the end of the previous film. They escape into the nearby Fangorn Forest, however, and meet Treebeard (Voice of John Rhys- Davies, who also plays Gimli), the leader of a race of living trees called Ents who act as kind of the protectors of the forest. As time goes on, they become determined to convince him to get the other Ents to help lay siege to the evil wizard Saruman's fortress. Eventually, they do so by leading Treebeard to see how heartlessly Saruman has wiped out a large chunk of the forest in order to get materials to strengthen his army. Outraged at this destruction of so many trees, an act he views as no less than mass- murder, especially as he personally knew some of the felled trees and some of them could talk like he could, Treebeard leads the Ents in a siege of Saruman's castle in Isengard, with Merry and Pippin joining in as much as they can.

The third storyline involves Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. They start out determined to rescue Merry and Pippin, but when they see that the two escaped and are safe with Treebeard, they go on other missions. They are reunited with their wizard friend Gandalf (Who we see survived his encounter with the Balrog in the previous film), and together set out to save the human king Theoden (Bernard Hill), whose mind is being controlled by Saruman through his vile and underhanded royal adviser Grima Wormtongue (Brad Dourif). When they help restore Theoden to his old self (I'll talk more about that incredible scene in a bit), they all together help Theoden lead his people to the much more secure fortress of Helm's Deep, where they are preparing for a brutal invasion by an enormous army of Saruman's mutated super- orcs. This group makes ready for the most intense battle of their lives to help foil this attack and save the people within.

As I said, 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' is probably my favorite film in the trilogy. It works in so many ways. It has great character development (Which is saying something, considering how many characters it has) and nice moments of drama and emotional impact, plenty of funny moments to help ease the tension, and TONS of incredibly well- done action scenes, usually in the form of various battles between different factions. I think it balances those elements better than either of the other films in the trilogy managed to do.

One of the main focuses of the film is on the Battle of Helm's Deep, and it is pulled off flawlessly. We get a great anticipation for it early on as the various characters (Both the major heroes, and just the regular soldiers that will be aiding them in the battle) nervously prepare for it in various ways. Even when Saruman's army arrives, the two sides merely face each other for a couple minutes without doing anything (Other than Gimli humorously complaining about the fact that his Dwarven stature makes him too short to be able to see over the battlement he has been stationed behind and thus wants to know what's happening), as rain begins to fall. Then, a stray arrow is accidentally fired, and all Hell breaks loose almost immediately from this.
In the battle itself, the scope is immense. We see just how massive the armies are and how well- fortified (Other than one key weakness) the castle is. We see the different battle strategies that each side uses, and how they each adapt to the changing circumstances of the battle and adjust their tactics accordingly. I cannot imagine how many people must have been involved in this scene, from the countless actors, to the costumers, makeup artists, prop designers, set designers, and so on.
This battle also features some pretty awesome visuals of the major heroes proving their strength and battle- skill. We see Legolas using a shield as kind of like a skateboard to slide down a flight of stairs while pouring arrows into enemy fighters (And even arranging so that, when he reaches the bottom, the shield is propelled into the chest of one of the orcs), Gimli throwing himself from off the top of a shattered wall to help fight off an orc charge on the lower level, and him and Aragorn then launching a fearless sneak attack to stop them from breaking down a major door. There is, in addition, a nice little running joke involving Legolas and Gimli (Who have gone from being intensely distrustful of each other in the previous film due to the rather shaky relations between Elves and Dwarves, to very slowly becoming friends) having a friendly competition as to who can kill the most Orc warriors in the battle. Hearing Gimli loudly counting off each one he takes out never fails to make me chuckle.

This movie also is our first real introduction of quite a few memorable new characters.
Theoden makes for a great addition to the cast, once he is freed from Saruman's influence (Again, more on that in a bit). He's shown to be a good king, effective military strategist, and capable warrior in the battlefield.
Faramir is pretty interesting as well, seeing his desire to prove to both his father and himself that he is useful and capable of defending his kingdom, and how conflicted he is over this as he comes to better know Frodo and realize just how dangerous the Ring can be.
Grima Wormtongue works wonderfully as a supporting villain. Brad Dourif (Best known as the voice of the killer doll Chucky) gives him such a creepy, menacing, smarmy personality, making your skin crawl every time he talks. From the moment he first appears, you pretty much instantly get the feeling that he is a very dangerous person trying deliberately to lead Theoden and all of Rohan into ruin.
Treebeard is a LOT of fun. His voice and body language are perfect, exactly how you'd imagine a sentient tree to move and talk. He has some funny moments largely involving how he and his fellow Ents believe in doing everything VERY slowly (Complete with his catchphrase of "Let's not be too hasty") and the frustration this causes Merry and Pippin, and yet it would be impossible to not sympathize with him when he looks on in horror at the destruction Saruman has begun inflicting on the forest.

Best of all the new characters in 'The Two Towers,' though, is most definitely Gollum. Even though Gollum technically appears a couple times in the previous film, these appearances are extremely brief, with you not even seeing much of what he looks like. In 'The Two Towers,' he is front and center, and steals every single scene he's in. He is often incredibly funny, especially in a scene when he brings Frodo and Sam a couple freshly- killed rabbits to eat, then reacts with horror when he sees Sam cooking them (Gollum prefers to eat his kills raw). The odd split- personality he has with his "Smeagol" and "Gollum" personalities is pulled off brilliantly, especially in a scene halfway through the film when the two personalities actually have an argument with each other. Between Andy Serkis's performance, the animation, and the camera work, it almost seems as if it is two different characters talking rather than just one talking to himself. He's probably the single- best CGI character I've ever seen in a movie, the effects for him still hold up well after all these years, and between that and Serkis's performance as not just Gollum's voice but also acting as his motion- capture double and the on- set stand- in for him, it really seems at times like he could be an actual living thing.


My favorite scene in this film, and easily one of my favorite scenes in the entire trilogy, is when Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf enter the throne room of King Theoden to have words with the king. Saruman's toxic influence over Theoden (Through a combination of his hypnotic magic and Wormtongue's foul advice) has caused the once- mighty king to become an incredibly frail, ancient- looking man who appears as though the slightest nudge could make him fall over. Sensing something's amiss, Gandalf approaches Theoden's throne while his three companions fight off the guards and Gimli grabs Wormtongue before the gutless little creep can sneak away. Gandalf begins attempting to magically release his old friend from Saruman's influence. While Saruman possesses Theoden and has him laugh off Gandalf's initial attempts and threaten that "If I go, Theoden dies," Gandalf brilliantly redoubles his magic efforts. As he puts it, "I withdraw you from Theoden as poison is drawn from a wound!" Sure enough, it works, and Theoden is saved. In a truly breathtaking use of visual effects, we then see Theoden de- age and regain his strength and sanity. He, his friends (Including Gandalf and co.), and his loved ones all rejoice that he is back to his noble self, and we then see him give Wormtongue the boot as he should have done long ago. This was such a magnificent scene in every way. All the performances are spectacular (Especially Ian McKellen and Bernard Hill), the music in that scene is gorgeous, and it just conveys a great feeling of victory and renewed hope. We can almost feel the joy in the scene spreading out to all of us, as though we were right there in the throne room celebrating alongside the heroes.
I remember the first time I saw this movie, being disappointed and saddened at Theoden's initial frail and decrepit appearance. I mean, in the book, Theoden is old, but he's still strong enough to kick some orc butt when he has to. Then, in this scene, when the spell is broken and Theoden regains his proper age and strength, I remember smiling broadly in the theater and thinking to myself, 'Yeah, THAT'S Theoden! THAT'S what he should look like!'
Those are just some of the reasons why 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' is my favorite film in the trilogy.

There are a whole bunch of Scriptural lessons that can be taken from 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.'

A major theme in 'The Two Towers' is on hope even when things seem hopeless. Each of the three subplots has characters dealing with that in some way: Merry and Pippin feel at one point like they don't have a chance of convincing Treebeard and the other Ents to join in the fight against Saruman and should just go home to the Shire. Aragorn and his companions, especially Legolas, feel at one point as though attempting to defend Helm's Deep against Saruman's gigantic army is a useless effort which will only result in getting them all killed. Frodo and Sam, in turn, come at one point to feel as though there's no way they'll be able to get the Ring to Mount Doom. Eventually, all find the courage and hope within them to resist despair and persevere in their missions. Sam even gives this truly unforgettable monologue near the end of the movie which sums this up (I'd simply write it out, but believe that to do so would be a disservice to Sean Astin's amazing delivery of it):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6C8SX0mWP0
(Credit for that video goes to the Youtube user EgalmothOfGondolin01)
As Sam points out, things can at times seem hopeless, like there's no way out and no way that good can come from our circumstances or things can ever go back to even remotely what they were before. For us trying to get through this pandemic, it can certainly seem that way. However, again as Sam points out in his monologue, the times of darkness WILL pass, and the dawn will shine all the brighter for it. Similarly, the trying times we are going through now because of the Coronavirus WILL one day be in the past, and our world will be all the brighter and happier for our having conquered it. This kind of hope and endurance is very much a Biblical trait, something that we as Christians should demonstrate. We recently celebrated Easter, which was all about that. The suffering, darkness, and hopelessness of Good Friday were overcome by the victory and light of Easter Sunday. 2 Corinthians 4:17- 18 says "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." The hardships we are faing now as a result of the quarantine are merely temporary, and in a time will be over, but the eternal glory that awaits us in Jesus is eternal and so infinitesimally better and more significant than our past hardships, which will by that point seem like mere afterthoughts.

Another Scriptural theme in 'Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,' which is especially relevant since last Wednesday was the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, is the importance of taking proper care of the environment that God entrusted to us. Treebeard at one point mentions that Saruman used to enjoy walking among the trees and woods, but lost that enjoyment when he became evil, hence why he came to see nothing wrong with wiping out large chunks of Fangorn Forest to gain the resources to fuel his army. We have a responsibility to protect the planet that God gave us. He put man in charge of the Earth, we the intent that we should be good stewards over it. While we are His highest an most beloved creation, He still has a great deal of love and care for plants, animals, and all other living things on Earth, and wants us to have that love and care for them, as well. Many verses in Scripture speak of the importance of properly caring for the land, trees, and animals. For instance, one which particularly applies to Saruman's devastation of the forests to support his army is Deuteronomy 20:19, which says "When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you?" God cares enough about the trees that He doesn't want to see them cut down in a war, a compassion that Saruman was clearly devoid of, but that God wants all of us to have.

An additional Scriptural lesson to take from 'The Two Towers' is the importance of resolving conflicts fast. About 2/3rds of the way into the film, Frodo is put into a position in which he is forced to lead Gollum to be captured by Faramir's troops (It was the only way to save the poor freaky guy's life, as Gollum had trespassed into a sacred pool, and Frodo doing this was the only thing that prevented Faramir's archers from simply killing him). Gollum is unaware of how close he came to death, and believes that Frodo had simply betrayed him, and of course doesn't take it well. In the end of the film, Sam tries to explain to Gollum what happened, but does so in an extremely brief and unsatisfying way that doesn't really convey that Frodo did what he did because it was the only way to save Gollum's life. I think that, if Frodo had done more to help Gollum to understand what had actually happened, things could very well have ended differently, and Gollum likely wouldn't have done the treacherous things he ended up doing in the final film. Ephesians 4:26 says "...Do not let the sun go down on your anger," and Jesus says in Matthew 5:24 that, if you are about to present an offering to the Lord but remember that you still have a quarrel with someone, that you should "Leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." Letting anger and conflicts endure without being promptly resolved causes them to get worse, for the anger and hurt feelings to fester and grow, which can have big consequences for you and others in the long run, just as Frodo not quickly and properly talking out his issue with Gollum led to a lot of problems for them in the next film.

A final major theological message that can be taken from 'The Two Towers' concerns the wonderful scene I talked about earlier with the exorcism of King Theoden. This is significant in a couple ways: First, because it is similar to the ways that Jesus would exorcise demons from the people they were possessed, such as how He saved the man who was possessed by Legion. Also, as I said earlier, I felt like Theoden being freed from Saruman's influence and changing back to normal was him regaining his TRUE self, what he's supposed to be like. In much the same way, when Jesus becomes our Savior and Lord, He does a very impressive transformation in our lives, helping to dispose of our sinful old selves and making us into our TRUE selves that we're supposed to be like. 2 Corinthians 5:17 illustrates this by showing that "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." I've indeed always believed that Jesus's main goal in life is to help us ascend and become who He meant us to be, the best servants of Him we can possibly be, through His miraculous transformative work on us.

There you have 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'. It's a truly marvelous movie which teaches us a lot of very valuable lessons on what it means to be a Christian.

I have one more thing to add, rather unrelated. Richard Smith, a dear old friend of mine from our seminary days, an Episcopal priest and an awesome guy in general, has started a new online ministry called "Binary Sunset Church" which seems to be kind of in the same vein as what I do here on the Nightcrawler Experience. Each Sunday, he performs a livestream online worship service in which he uses themes and concepts from 'Star Wars' to help communicate the messages in his sermons, similar to what I do here. While his services are Episcopal in delivery and liturgy and whatnot, the doctrine  Richard preaches in his sermons appears to be pretty nondenominational. So, if you have an interest in that, check out "Binary Sunset Church" on Facebook, and you'll be able to watch their services at 1:00 on Sundays.

That's all for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. Stay tuned in the next week or so, when I finish out this series with a look at the final movie in the trilogy. Until then, take care, stay safe and healthy, and may God bless you all!

Obedience, Temptation and Redemption: A Faith- Based Look at 'Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.'

Hi everyone, welcome back to a new edition of the Nightcrawler Experience!
Well, the Coronavirus is still raging, and we've all (Most of us, anyway) got a lot of time at home on our hands as a result of it, so I hit upon an idea, to examine a series of films on the Nightcrawler Experience, as well as satisfying a request that my friend Jonah made for the blog years ago:
A devotional look at each film in the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy!
They are three very long films (Especially since I'll be viewing the Extended versions of them, and I recommend that all of you do the same as most of the deleted scenes do indeed add a lot to the story, whether through plot advancement or just sheer entertainment value), so the Coronavirus quarantine period is the perfect time for me to re- watch them and post faith- based reviews on them here.
The 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy is of course based on the book series of the same name by J.R.R. Tolkien, as sequels to his previous book 'The Hobbit.'
We begin with the first film in the trilogy, 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.'

Through an opening flashback, we learn that the dark lord Sauron, thousands of years before the story took place, attempted to take over the world of Middle Earth with the aid of a magic ring, the One Ring, that among other things, greatly amplified his power. He was defeated, and the Ring separated from him, but the human king who took the Ring was soon corrupted by its addictive power, and refused to destroy it (Which in turn would have completely destroyed Sauron forever). The Ring was lost for many thousands of years, then found by the creature Gollum, who kept it with him for a few centuries, with it warping his mind and body in the process.

Then, in the events of 'The Hobbit,' the hobbit (A small, normally- unimpressive humanoid creature normally not made for battles or adventures) Bilbo Baggins took the Ring from him. Bilbo kept the Ring for sixty years in his home in the peaceful Hobbit village known as the Shire, with the Ring unnaturally preserving his life/ youth. Eventually, he left and went to the Elven city of Rivendell, leaving the Ring (Which was already starting to corrupt Bilbo's personality somewhat) and the rest of his possessions to his nephew, Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood).
At this point, Sauron is preparing to return and again try and conquer Middle Earth, but needs the Ring in order to do this, so he sends a group of corrupted formerly- human creatures known as the Ringwraiths to try and hunt down the Ring.

Eventually, Frodo, his best friend Sam (Sean Astin), a couple wisecracking fellow Hobbit friends named Merry and Pippin, and a human ranger known as Strider (Viggo Mortensen) who was guiding and protecting them, all leave the Shire and make it to Rivendell. There, a council is formed with leaders from various groups and races all over Middle Earth, to decide what to do about this. They decide to create a group, known as the Fellowship of the Ring, to travel across Middle Earth and destroy the Ring by throwing it into the fires of Mount Doom, where it was first created.
 In addition to the four Hobbit friends and Strider (Whom we soon learn is actually named Aragorn, and is the rightful heir to the throne of one of the human kingdoms there), the group also includes the wise and powerful wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen), the hotheaded Dwarf warrior Gimli (John Rhys- Davies), the Elven prince/ master archer Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and a human warrior and nobleman named Boromir (Sean Bean).
This group travels over a far region, and has many perilous adventures, before leading to a cliffhanger ending and the group splitting up in pursuit of different goals.

If I had to nit pick about any real faults with 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,' other than its length, about all I can think of would involve something concerning the Ringwraiths. These hooded humanoids look scary and all, but they let out these shrill, piercing shrieks that got on my nerves after a while.

Other than that, 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' is a great movie and a wonderful way to get started on the series. It was so much better than the previous attempt to do a movie adaptation of the books (A bizarre, trippy animated version from the late 1970's directed by Ralph Bakshi that made the entire story seem really boring).
It explained the storyline in a way that was interesting, and still easy to understand for most viewers.
It has loads of great action sequences all throughout it, with my favorite being a lengthy battle between the Fellowship and the orc army in the underground Dwarven kingdom of Moria, culminating in Gandalf's unforgettable confrontation with the Balrog, a terrifying monster of shadow and flame.
The Fellowship are a great, interesting, diverse group of characters. Frodo and the other Hobbits have a nice bond with each other, you really get the sense that they had been close friends ever since they were young. In particular, Sam's shown to be an extremely loyal and devoted friend to Frodo, always right by his side. Merry and especially Pippin also bring a lot of humor to the film.
 Aragorn makes for a good, strong leader to the group, you can definitely see both the ragtag ranger warrior he is, and the noble king he eventually will become. My mom didn't like the fact that she thought his hair looked too "Greasy," but hey, it's not like a woodland ranger would have access to a lot of top- notch hair- care products!
 Gandalf is a wonderful mentor, with strength (Again, it's amazing to see him fight the Balrog), immense wisdom, and yet also kindness and compassion. He's shown to be a mighty ally in battle, a wise adviser in tough times, and also a fun friend to hang out with in good times (The fireworks he brings to the Shire to help celebrate Bilbo's birthday party are a marvelous sight to see).
My favorite character would have to be Gimli the Dwarf. He works well in a lot of different ways. He's shown to be a brave and capable fighter, has some good serious moments (i.e. A scene when he mourns the death of a relative of his is quite touching), and yet also makes for a great comic- relief character to help break the tension in some scenes.
The music for it (For the entire series, actually, but I'm focusing on this, as the music used in this was integral to the score in the rest of the trilogy) is top- notch, as well. The central theme for the Ring has a quiet, mysterious tone. The main action- theme for the films, in contrast, is loud, exciting, and gets your blood pumping. Probably my favorite bit of music in the movie, though, is the theme music for the Shire. It has such a pretty, small- village theme to it, perfectly fitting the beautiful, homey imagery of the Shire.

One scene that remains one of the best parts of the movie for me lies in the end; Frodo leaves the Fellowship, intent on getting to Mount Doom on his own before any of the Fellowship are corrupted by the Ring. Frodo begins rowing across a river in a boat, only to discover that Sam is running into the water after him, even though he can't swim. Even as the water gets deeper and Frodo tells him to go back, Sam keeps going. Eventually, the water is too deep to stand in, and Sam starts drowning, but Frodo gets him and pulls him into the boat. Sam then sobbingly says, "I made a promise, Mr. Frodo. A PROMISE! 'Don't you leave him, Samwise Gamgee!' And I don't mean to. I don't mean to." Sean Astin's performance as Sam in that scene is so poignant, I'll never forget it. The truest picture of what loyalty looks like.
In short, 'Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' is a marvelous film, a great launching- point for the series, and perfect quarantine- viewing.




One of the main reasons why I've decided to do this series, other than my friend's suggestion, is because the 'Lord of the Rings' films all contain a lot of good Scriptural messages, and this one is no exception.
I think the first theological message that 'The Fellowship of the Ring' contains is on the dangerous, corrupting nature of sin. We see in the movie how even good people can be driven astray. Gandalf's former ally and friend, the equally powerful wizard Saruman, becomes evil and sides with Sauron. Saruman was at one time a great force for good in Middle Earth, but he simply lost hope, came to believe that the now- returned Sauron could not be defeated, and joined up with him instead in the interest of survival and gaining even more power.
This could be seen as similar to King Solomon, the son of David. For many years of his reign, he was a good king, as his father was, and was known for his wisdom. As time went on, however, this good king became corrupted. 1 Kings 11 describes how Solomon married many women from other nations that did not know God, and that God prohibited His followers from intermarrying with. In Solomon's old age, these wives convinced him to turn from the Lord (Who had personally appeared to him not once but TWICE) and instead worship the foul pagan deities they worshiped. The Lord was greatly angered by this, and decreed that, because of Solomon becoming so corrupted, the kingship of Israel would be taken from his family line and given to another after he died.

This corrupting nature can also be seen in the movie through the character Boromir. While a heroic and respected warrior with a strong sense of honor, Boromir becomes entranced with the power the Ring possesses, and near the end attempts to forcefully take it from Frodo (Sean Bean demonstrates remarkable emotional range as Boromir in this scene, going from amiably chatting with Frodo to furiously attacking him for the Ring in less than two minutes). He has good intentions; He believes the Ring can be used for good, and that he can use it to help his people in their struggle against Sauron's forces, and we learn in an extended version of the sequel, 'The Two Towers,' that he was also heavily pressured by his father Denethor into seeking the Ring. Nevertheless, the corrupting nature of the Ring drives this good man into committing reprehensible acts against Frodo, whom he had previously sworn to protect.
However, Boromir repents of this failure. He regains his senses, realizes almost immediately the awful thing he's done, and in the brutal battle against the orc hordes that follows, he fights bravely, and dies a hero's death. As he is dying, Boromir confesses to Aragorn what he did, and Aragorn forgives him, telling him, "Go in peace, son of Gondor."
Like Boromir, we too can at times fall to sin and do things we shouldn't, even when we believed we would be so much stronger than that. Yet, also like Boromir, we can repent of our sins, humbly seek God's forgiveness for them, and He will joyously grant it to us. Jesus died for us to give us that opportunity. The Bible is, of course, filled with verses pointing this out. Proverbs 28:13 says that "Whoever conceals their sin does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy." 1 John 1:9 says "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us of all unrighteousness." While we can be corrupted into doing what we shouldn't through the allure of sin, we can also be freed and forgiven from that corruption through Christ's love and mercy.


Another major theological lesson to be taken from 'The Fellowship of the Ring,' which can particularly apply to us during this time of quarantine, involves a brief discussion between Frodo and Gandalf about two- thirds of the way into the movie. Frodo, feeling scared and discouraged, tells Gandalf that "I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened." Gandalf responds, "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given to us."
I'd imagine that, indeed, all of us feel about the current Coronavirus situation the same way that Frodo feels in this scene, that we wish none of this had happened to us. Nevertheless, as Gandalf points out, such things are not for us to decide, what matters is how we respond to them. Jesus, too, struggled at times with accepting the harder parts of what He was meant to do.  This exchange between Frodo and Gandalf rather resembles Jesus's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before His crucifixion. According to Matthew 26:39, He prayed "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as You will." He would much rather not have gone through the pain, death, and momentary separation from His Father that He knew were about to happen, but nevertheless was determined to obey His Father. May we all have the same spirit of obedience, in this current unpleasant time, and long after it, all through our lives.

So, there we have 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring': A wonderful film which teaches wonderful lessons about avoiding corruption of sin, finding redemption for when we do sin, and obeying God even when going through times we'd rather avoid.

That's it for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. Keep your eyes open for when I look at the next film in the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, which is coming very soon. Until then, may God bless you all!

Friendship, Allegory, and a Super- Fast Woodland Creature: A faith- based review of 'Sonic the Hedgehog.'

Hi everyone, welcome back to the Nightcrawler Experience!
Well, it's been quite a couple months, hasn't it?
I've been meaning to make this entry for a while now, but was delayed by a combination of work and my computer having been in the shop for a couple weeks. Now that my computer's back, and the Coronavirus issue (Which I try and pray about every day, and I'd suggest all of you do the same) is ensuring I'll be doing most of my work from home, I'll be better able to put out this and maybe a couple more entries in the future.
For my birthday weekend in February, I went with a couple friends to see the new 'Sonic the Hedgehog' movie.

(Credit for this image goes to the user "Inferno Lord Red" on the Heroes Wiki at https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_(2020)/Gallery?file=Sonic_2020_Poster.png)
Now, however, because of the Coronavirus issue keeping everyone at home, it's already available to watch on home format through digital streaming services.
The story of Sonic and my kind of connection to him goes back a long, long way:
As a kid in the 1990s who owned a Sega Genesis rather than a Super Nintendo (I still to this day maintain that the Genesis was the superior console) I was pretty much raised on the first few 'Sonic the Hedgehog' games, and on the animated shows that came out in that period which featured Jaleel White (Best known for playing Steve Urkel on the show 'Family Matters') as the voice of Sonic.

For the uninitiated, the "Sonic" games had you of course playing as Sonic (Though he soon gains some friends who similarly become playable characters in later games, such as his sidekick Tails and enemy- turned- ally Knuckles), a rather cocky but brave and good- hearted blue hedgehog with superhuman speed who sets out to save his world from being conquered by the evil Dr. Robotnik, a power- hungry mad scientist who specialized both in creating machines that he could use to try and kill Sonic and take over the world, and in insidiously kidnapping cute little animals and turning them into his vicious robot henchmen.

 The levels would each consist of Sonic going through different areas, picking up rings along the way to help protect him from harm, fighting some of Dr. Robotnik's aforementioned robots along the way (In a sweet touch, whenever Sonic would destroy one of those robots, you could then see the little animal that had been imprisoned inside it happily running off), and then having a boss fight against Robotnik himself with the latter in a weaponized machine or vehicle.
These games took up so much of my time as a kid! The action was great, the graphics looked really good for the time, the music was wonderful as well (In fact, Michael Jackson himself helped collaborate on creating the musical score in the third game), and the characters were likable, especially Sonic himself.

I recall even back then as a kid, imagining what a 'Sonic' movie would be like (I think I and my brothers at one point suggested that Joe Pesci could be a good choice for playing Dr. Robotnik).
Things seemed rocky on that front, though.
It reached a real low point with the first teaser trailer for the film last summer. This trailer had a lot of problems: The jokes didn't seem very funny. It looked as though Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik may have been a miscast based on the clips of him they showed. The Coolio song "Gangsta's Paradise" was used, which doesn't fit the tone of a Sonic film at all (It's a very slow- paced song, not exactly fitting for a character/ franchise most known for blinding speed). Worst of all by far, though, was the horrendous character design for Sonic. It made him look unspeakably ugly and honestly kind of scary, certainly a far cry from the gaming mascot beloved by children the world over for decades. The fans were understandably outraged over it, and of course took to social media to express their unhappiness over the cinematic dumpster- fire they knew it would likely be.
Then, though, something miraculous happened: The filmmakers actually listened to the fans!
 Sonic's character design got a complete overhaul which made him look much better and much closer to how he looks in the current games, and in the newer trailer, they even used a much more fitting song for it in the form of the Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop" (A nice, fast- paced song that does indeed make a good Sonic theme). After that point, practically everything I saw relating to the movie made me more excited for it.


Now, on to the movie itself. It starts with Sonic (Voice of Ben Schwartz, who I best know as the voice of Dewey Duck in the excellent "DuckTales" series reboot) as a young child, having to leave his home world and the kind owl that had been sort of like his adoptive mother when she is mortally wounded and tells him to "Never stop running." With the aid of a bunch of magic rings that can act as portals to different worlds, that's exactly what he does for quite a while. He eventually settles, though, in a Montana town called "Green Hills" (A nod to the 'Green Hills Zone,' the very first level in the very first 'Sonic' game). He fills his days there in isolation, keeping busy with random fun and observing the locals from afar, but at the same time dealing with crippling loneliness over the fact that he cannot interact with anyone due to his fear that they might attempt to exploit or experiment on him to find the source of his speed power. He especially enjoys observing the lives of the town's sheriff, Tom Wachowski (James Marsden), and his veterinarian wife Maddie (Tika Sumpter). The nicknames Sonic gives them are so funny, I don't want to spoil them here. Those two have a content enough life, but Tom has ambitions of doing bigger things and helping people more, so he is seeking to join the San Francisco PD.

Eventually, Sonic's actions cause a massive power anomaly that attracts the attention of the US government, who put the odd and reviled yet brilliant scientist Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) in charge of the hunt for whatever caused it, with the aid of his swarm of advanced robot drones. Soon realizing that his cave home in Green Hills is not safe anymore, Sonic sets out to go to a new world in which he will be completely alone (In this other dimension he has set his sights on, the only other life forms are apparently giant mushrooms). In the process, though, his bag of transport rings are accidentally beamed to San Francisco, and he must reveal himself to Tom and seek the sheriff's help in getting there.

Tom and Sonic go on a lengthy road trip to get there, and in the process learn more about each other and themselves. Meanwhile, Robotnik has found one of Sonic's quills, discovers that even just that single quill holds a gigantic amount of energy that he can harness to power his machines and make them even faster and deadlier than before, and becomes even more determined to find and capture Sonic to see how much power can be taken from ALL of the little blue dude. All of this leads up to a fast- paced showdown between good and evil, and a great look at the power of friendship.


One of the only problems I had with the 'Sonic the Hedgehog' movie concerned a supporting character, Maddie's sister Rachel. While my friends I saw the movie with liked her, I found her very unlikable. For instance, early in the film, a simple and calm disagreement over the phone between Tom and Maddie prompts Rachel to try and imply that Maddie should divorce him. Rachel just seemed like an unnecessarily mean and rude person meddling in a clearly- happy marriage, though in an ironic contrast, her young daughter Jojo made for a delightful character for the few scenes she was in (More on her in a little bit).
Other than that, 'Sonic the Hedgehog' proved to be a really good movie, easily one of the best video- game films I can ever recall seeing (A couple other good ones I'd recommend are 'Rampage' and 'Pokemon: Detective Pikachu'). The action is solid all the way through, there's loads of extremely funny moments, and a good amount of heart and character development, especially between Sonic and Tom.
Also, much like what 'The Lego Batman Movie' did with the various incarnations of Batman, the 'Sonic' movie is filled with tons of different nods to the previous incarnations of the little blue blur, with the aforementioned naming of the town as Green Hills being just the tip of the iceberg. There are nods to other levels in the games, they make reference to Sonic's fondness for chili dogs that was seen in the 90's animated shows, and one scene uses an iconic bit of music from one of the games.

Of course, I must first talk a little about the title character. They do a wonderful job giving Sonic a well- developed personality. We see he's adventurous, fun- loving, compassionate (There's a sweet yet funny scene early on in which he saves a turtle from getting run over on the highway and takes it on a super- fast ride), and deep down, extremely lonely and desperate for companionship. He wants so badly to connect with people and form relationships with them like he sees them form with each other, but he's afraid to do so out of fear that someone will either kill him or exploit his power. It makes for a vicious cycle that you will be VERY glad to see him get out of as the movie goes on. He makes for a good hero, as likable and charismatic as he was in the games. Ben Schwartz does a marvelous job with his voice, making him sound cocky and fun- loving, yet with some real vulnerability as well. The moments of him enjoying random elements of human culture as he's observed them tend to be extremely funny. Just an all- around great job of portraying one of the greatest heroes in the history of video games.

Tom and Maddie both make for great characters on their own, and as a couple. You can definitely see where Tom is coming from, in which he has a good life in Green Hills but wants to feel like he could be somewhere where he REALLY makes a difference. It's also great to see how loyal and supportive Maddie is towards him (i.e. Early on, when Tom gets a letter from the SFPD about if they will hire him or not, we see that Maddie has arranged to have two different cakes made for him, one for each possible outcome). We just really get the sense that they are a happy, loving couple. Also, although she's just a minor character, Maddie's niece Jojo (The daughter of the irritating Rachel I mentioned earlier) is a real sweetheart, funny and kind. It makes me wish we had seen more of her in the movie and less of Rachel.

As I indicated earlier, I initially had some real concerns going into it about the casting of Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik. I'd have cast Kelsey Grammer to play him, and portray him similarly to how he (Grammer) plays the excellent "Simpsons" baddie Sideshow Bob. Nevertheless, when I saw the movie, I was VERY impressed with Jim Carrey's performance. While Carrey has definitely been on a career slump the last several years, in his performance as Robotnik he seems to be channeling the zany comedic energy he showed in his most popular films of the 1990's when his career was at its peak. This version of Robotnik is ridiculously arrogant (In an entertaining way, similar to Ben Stiller's character White Goodman in the movie 'Dodgeball'), condescending to literally everyone around him, and yet his arrogance seems rather understandable considering his vast intellect. As a t- shirt slogan I once saw put it, "It Ain't Braggin' If You Can Back it Up!" The movie does a great job of showing what a technological genius Robtnik truly is, such as through the special gloves he wears that let him remotely control his drones simply by flexing his fingers in certain ways. At the same time, we can see how his egomania, his obsessive dependence on technology for everything, and his equally obsessive pursuit of Sonic are slowly wearing down his sanity and turning him into the twisted madman I remember spending so much time fighting in the games. Plus, in the very end, we get a glimpse of him starting to gain the physical appearance that Robotnik has in the games and other media. While it's not exactly the Dr. Robotnik I remember, Carrey still makes him into a very entertaining villain who steals every scene he's in.


I can think of a couple different theological messages that can be taken from the 'Sonic the Hedgehog' film.
The first comes from a scene in the film's climax: Dr. Robotnik has critically wounded Sonic and is about to finish him, when Tom intervenes. Robotnik claims that a "Silly little alien" like Sonic doesn't belong on Earth, to which Tom gives a kind of cliched but still REALLY accurate and eloquent response: "That little alien knew more about being a human than you ever will!" There is a LOT of truth to that statement. While Robotnik has no friends (Even the person he's closest to, a stooge named Agent Stone, he treats like dirt) and makes it clear he doesn't want any, Sonic rightfully regards friendship and true companionship as one of the most important things in existence. While Robotnik proves to be as cold and soulless as the machines he surrounds himself with, it's clear how much Sonic loves fellow living things, the world around him, and life in general. For instance, about halfway into the film, simply realizing that he will apparently be leaving Earth in a day motivates Sonic to create a bucket list of things he'd like to do before he leaves (And they're a pretty funny, random list of things), and try to fill as many of them as possible. When Maddie's delightful niece Jojo notices that Sonic's shoes have become incredibly worn from all of his running and gives him the trademark red and white sneakers that he wears in the games, Sonic expresses sincere gratitude and wonder over the fact that these new shoes are the first gift that anyone had ever given him. He truly does know and ESPECIALLY appreciate what it means to be human, to be alive, more than Robotnik ever will. In this way, Sonic can be seen as a little bit of an allegory for Jesus. It in fact calls to mind a sermon that a pastor gave  in church a couple weeks ago about the nature of Jesus. John 1:14 points out that "The Word became flesh and lived among us...", and the pastor elaborated on this by saying that "Jesus experienced the limits of time and space. He felt all the emotions we feel: Hunger, aches and pains, joy, heartbreak. He knew what it was like to live in a human body and think with a human mind." Unlike the self- righteous and hypocritical Pharisees who did all they could to distance themselves from the common "Sinful" people around them (Similar to how Robotnik in the film looked so disdainfully on pretty much everyone around him due to how intellectually inferior to him he believed them to be), Jesus loved all people and connected with all of them. Just like Sonic in the film, Jesus came, lived among people, took part in their joys and pain, and loved experiencing all of it with them.

Another theological message to be taken from the 'Sonic' film involves the concept of friendship. Again, we see quickly that Sonic dearly desires friendship and companionship with others, viewing these connections as one of the best parts of being alive. Tom comes to feel the same way, through the friendship he builds with Sonic. There are quite a few verses of Scripture that openly show just how important friendship and companionship can be. Ecclesiastes 4:9- 10 says "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to pick them up." Also, a translation of Proverbs 27:9 points out that "Sweet friendships refresh the soul and awaken our hearts with joy, for good friends are like the anointing oil that yields the fragrant incense of God's presence." Good friends are there for each other, assist each other in their efforts and pursuits, pick each other up when one is struggling, and can refresh one another's souls and bring joy to their hearts. No man is an island, and these truths are particularly important now, with so many of us shut in at home due to the quarantine. We need to maintain correspondence with our trusted friends and loved ones to help each other through this time. Call them, text them, facebook message them, just find a way to reach out to them and let them know you're thinking about them, praying for them, and love them. That is one of the many ways that, even in this time, we can show God's love to those around us.

That pretty much sums up 'Sonic the Hedgehog.' A wonderful, thrilling, funny and moving family film which conveys the great truth about how important true friendship is, and helps show through an unlikely source a little of what it meant in the Bible when it described Jesus as "The Word made flesh." I highly recommend digitally renting it if you're so inclined.
Also, I found this great video on Youtube which uses the awesome opening theme song from the classic Saturday morning 'Sonic' cartoon that aired in the 90's, paired up with clips from the film. Check it out if you want:
















(Credit for this video goes to the Youtube user "Leonardo Shellhead")
That's all for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. As my computer is now back in working order and I have more home- time on my hands, I have an idea for a new mini- series of entries I'll be working on, so keep an eye out for them. Until then, stay safe and healthy, and may God bless you all!