REVIEW: ‘The King Of Kings’ Teaches Children The Story Of Jesus Christ

Directed by Seong-ho Jang and being distributed by the Christian, independent Angel Studios, ‘The King of Kings’ features a star-studded, award-decorated voice cast including Oscar Issac as Jesus Christ, Uma Thurman and Kenneth Branagh as Catherine and Charles Dickens, Roman Griffin Davis as Walter Dickens, and Mark Hamill as King Herod.

This ‘Princess Bride’-esque story pursues Charles Dickens as he attempts to captivate his hard-to-impress son, Walter, with the tale of Jesus Christ. Walter holds a special admiration for his magic sword and his cat, Willa. Although Charles initially dislikes these interests, he comes to appreciate their significance as he and Walter connect through the narrative of Jesus’ life, recognizing their importance in Walter’s world. Charles works to get Walter out of his head by showing that while his stories of fire-breathing dragons and wizards are certainly impressive, nothing is more remarkable than the story of Jesus himself.

Through animation that brings out all of your warm, watercolor feelings, youthful wonder, and a tense relationship between a father and his child’s cat, the journey of Jesus and the core message of Christianity has been sculpted beautifully to be introduced to curious children.

‘The King of Kings’ will pull parents and kids directly beside Jesus, following him from Bethlehem to Nazareth. The captivating method of draping the locations of Israel and Charles Dickens’ study back to back aids in enhancing the storytelling and keeps viewers’ attention seized. Families will be offered a deeply immersive experience, in every sense of the word. While Charles narrates and acts out the retelling, the scenes switch between the Holy Land and his study. Throughout a large portion of the film, Walter, Willa, and Charles are shown in Israel, engaging with important biblical figures, illustrating how profoundly inviting and personal the narratives of the Bible can be.

When Jesus is walking on angry waters, the camera briefly submerges, instilling fear in your stomach as if you yourself are at risk of drowning. When Walter alarmingly loses Willa during the Triumphal Entry, Charles, while hesitant at first, sets aside his aversion to his son’s furry friend and pushes through the crowd. He gets wounded, stepped on, and thrust onto the ground, but his determination never wavers, being fueled by the love he has for his son. Walter, thinking Willa is lost forever, sees Jesus through an opening in the crowd, lovingly petting his dear Willa. As he is in awe, a man walks in front of him, blocking the view of the Son of God for a brief moment. When the man leaves the frame, Walter and the viewers are astounded to see that the one we perceived as Jesus was, in fact, Walter’s father. One of the most precious people in his life had saved one of the most precious possessions in his life. We would argue this is the most important and powerful scene in the movie. It gently places the central message into your palms: Christ is a part of everyone and has an incredible power to bring people, and even pets, together.

Jesus is shown to perform many miracles, putting aside the sins the person receiving the blessing may have committed. While this is a great opportunity to teach all ages to leave behind judgment and preconceived notions, parents may have to tread lightly when showing this film to disabled kids or kids who have disabled loved ones. While the Bible contains numerous examples of Jesus healing disabilities, such as blindness and paralysis as depicted in the movie, it may lead children to develop unrealistic expectations, as these outcomes are not assured.

Seong-ho Jang shaped Walter’s character to be highly relatable, allowing room for children to share his feelings. When Walter expresses excitement for Jesus, children will exclaim with glee. When Walter fears for Jesus and selflessly gives away his cookies to help those in need, it will instill empathy and enrich children’s understanding of the biblical stories shared with them.

4/5 stars

A beautiful retelling, bring your loved ones!

This picture unfolds with an open-armed charm that secular and non-secular individuals can both appreciate which many religious retellings struggle to accomplish. We found this picture to be quite enjoyable and sometimes felt eager to see what would unfurl next as if it was our first time hearing this story. We could see parts of ourselves in Walter and feel a childlike whimsy brewing within us.

We were walking directly behind Charles, Walter, and Willa, feeling the warm sun of the Holy Land on our backs.