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As for adding non-ADR audio, there was a scene of "baby God" in a crib, wearing a diaper (an image which, if I never see again, I will die happy,) and making baby noises. Instead of having the actor make the noises, the actor's mouth moved to match added audio of a baby crying. The fit was spot-on. (Unless, of course, this actor is incredibly gifted when it comes to sounding like an infant.)
My one complaint in this category was at the very end of the film where God and Jesus are in a toy company's conference room. The dialogue sounded a little bit tinny and echoed, but it wasn't anything overly noticeable.
This film’s $943 budget was spent on set building and redressing ($350 – the same set was re-used 10 times;) rental of a courtroom set ($50;) material for costumes ($100;) wigs and makeup ($80;) food for the actors ($300;) and tape stock $63.)
The re-use of a single set is laudable; it is always difficult to find multiple sets for a film, but spending time and money to re-dress a single set certainly outweighs the added frustration of trying to find a new one, paying rental fees, not to mention dressing the set. And if one is already familiar with the room, it will be that much easier to film and light. The exception would be the money spent to rent a courtroom, but that was negligible, and definitely worth it. The money spent on costumes, makeup, and wigs was also well-spent, as all these effects looked great. For some of the actors playing the older male characters, I was shocked to find out that they weren’t actually as old as they appeared to be.
From a visual and audio perspective, the film looked and sounded great. The perfect lighting in multiple settings and degrees of light showed a clear mastery, and the amazingly crisp audio – ditto. The only thing that would have made it completely visually flawless is better CGI and green screen. Spending extra money to work with a professional on both fronts would have gone a long way.
This was by far the hardest film I have ever had to watch, and one of the hardest to critique. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, as movies should challenge their viewer, and I am frequently disappointed that Hollywood's offerings never do. It was very hard to keep an open mind, however, but I hope the final result is as fair and balanced as possible. It was also hard to pick a score for this category without being too biased, as I don't fall into the filmmakers target audience(ie folks without any religious beliefs). Honestly, I have no desire to see this film again, nor do I want to show it to any of my friends. I know there is an audience out there, but it factually is such a niche audience that I chose a score of around 50%. (The percentage of Americans, or even international viewers, who claim to have no religious world view is extremely low in even the most liberal and secular polls.)
To say this film is a religious satire is putting it mildly. Microfilmmaker was advised that the deeply religious would be offended, but it seems that even those with marginal religious views are likely to be disturbed. The film is certainly aimed at folks without religious viewpoints and those with militantly anti-religious sentiments (such as those posed in Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion), and would likely be a hit with that audience. The problem is the size of that audience. (The most secular polls have atheists and those without any religious beliefs at 10% or less, while most polls actually measure this group at between 2.1%-7.6%.) Movies like Saved!, Dogma, and Monty Python's Life of Brian are aimed at a larger audiences and likely to offend a smaller group, but this seems to be the opposite with God Complex. Certainly the majority of the content is aimed at Christianity, but as the Old Testament is also a part of the Jewish faith, that audience will likely not be keen on the film. There are a couple brief jabs at Islam, and the film's final rant against religion could be taken wrongly by a member of any faith.
As the movie progresses, it begins to cease being a satirical comedy and more of a straight propaganda film. The two characters who keep trying to assassinate God are finally introduced as the "Godbusters" Si and Telly - aka Science and Intelligence. From that point on, the assertion that science and religion cannot co-exist is repeatedly pounded into the viewer's head. While I personally don't agree with this statement, I can understand and appreciate the thought behind it, but battering the audience over the head with any message repeatedly doesn't work in any film, regardless of the subject matter.
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