God's Not Dead 2

God's Not Dead 2
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Harold Cronk
Written by	Chuck Konzelman Cary Solomon
Produced by	Elizabeth Hatcher-Travis Brittany Lefebvre Michael Scott David A. R. White Russell Wolfe Nathan Wenban
Starring	Melissa Joan Hart Jesse Metcalfe David A. R. White Hayley Orrantia Sadie Robertson Ernie Hudson
Cinematography	Brian Shanley
Edited by	Vance Null
Music by	Will Musser
Distributed by	Pure Flix Entertainment
Release date	April 1, 2016 (2016-04-01)
Running time	120 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$5 million
Box office	$23.4 million

God's Not Dead 2 is a 2016 American Christian drama film directed by Harold Cronk and stars Melissa Joan Hart, Jesse Metcalfe, David A. R. White, Hayley Orrantia, and Sadie Robertson. It is the sequel to the 2014 film God's Not Dead and was released on April 1, 2016. It was the final film role for Fred Thompson.

Plot

History teacher Grace Wesley (Melissa Joan Hart), a devout Christian, is teaching her students about the Declaration of Independence, when she notices that one of them, Brooke Thawley (Hayley Orrantia), is downtrodden following the recent death of her brother. As a result of his death, her parents, who are both atheists, have forced her to withdraw from the world around her and she is therefore involved in little more than her studies. Brooke notices Grace's hope-filled attitude, and after encountering her at a cafe later on, inquires as to where she finds her hope, to which Grace replies "only in Jesus". Brooke soon discovers that her brother possessed a Bible and she begins to read it for herself. A later lecture from Grace on the peaceful teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. prompts Brooke to inquire as to whether their teachings relate to the biblical account of the Sermon on the Mount, to which Grace responds in the affirmative, while quoting scripture. Amazed by her teaching, the students begin texting their parents about the class, and the ensuing backlash draws the ire of atheist Principal Kinney (Robin Givens), who responds by reprimanding Grace and declaring that she believes her faith clouded her judgment. Grace is subsequently brought before the School Board, all of whom are atheists, and inform her that as she violated the separation of church and state, legal action will be taken against her. Grace's case draws the attention of Tom Endler (Jesse Metcalfe), a charismatic defense attorney who is willing to aid her despite being an unbeliever himself.

The school board makes the decision to bring Grace's case before the Supreme Court, with the intention of securing her termination and having her stripped of her teaching license unless she issues an apology for sharing Jesus Christ and renounces her faith, to which Grace refuses. Brooke's parents are interviewed by atheist prosecutor Pete Kane (Ray Wise), who encourages them to proceed with the lawsuit and "prove once and for all that God is dead", much to Brooke's horror. As the case gets underway, Kane takes advantage of Grace and Endler's nervousness to intimidate Endler, stating confidently that Grace will be found guilty. Kane's opening argument suggests that the society of America will crumble should Grace fail to be found guilty, as she violated the separation of Church and State. Endler responds by stating that Grace was simply doing her job and that the law separating Church and State was written by Thomas Jefferson in an effort to protect the church, not persecute it. Kane doles out a crippling case against the defense by bringing forward key witnesses such as Kinney and the Thawley's, prompting Endler to attempt to regroup and rethink their defense. Meanwhile, Brooke, who has developed a new found faith in Jesus Christ, stands in solidarity with her friends against Principal Kinney. Grace and Endler's defense is dealt another crippling blow when key witness, Pastor David Hill (David A.R. White), encounters severe stomach problems and is forced to leave. Apologist J. Warner Wallace is called as an expert witness, who argues that it is illogical to think that the Gospel of Jesus was a conspiracy because despite facing persecution and death, none of the Apostles ever retracted the accounts of seeing the risen Jesus Christ. Kane is floored to learn that Wallace was formerly an atheist who was converted to Christianity.

When the trial resumes the following day, Brooke arrives to voice her support of Grace, and has her request to become a witness granted. Kane is able to trick Brooke into admitting that during her encounter with Grace at the cafe, it was Grace and not Brooke who initiated the conversation about Jesus. As Grace becomes more and more discouraged, Brooke and her friends sing her a song to an attempt to build up her spirits. Using a tactic whereby he treats Grace as a hostile witness, Endler is able to get the judge to inform the jury not to let their bias or prejudices interfere with their verdict. The jury ultimately finds in favor of Grace, who rejoices along with Brooke and Endler. The verdict also renders Kane humiliated and he loses all interest in the case.

Cast

• Melissa Joan Hart as Grace Wesley
• Jesse Metcalfe as Tom Endler
• David A. R. White as Reverend Dave
• Hayley Orrantia as Brooke Thawley
• Sadie Robertson as Marlene
• Ernie Hudson as Judge Stennis
• Pat Boone as Walter Wesley
• Fred Thompson as Senior Pastor
• Robin Givens as Miss Kinney
• Maria Canals-Barrera as Catherine Thawley
• Benjamin Onyango as Reverend Jude
• Ray Wise as Pete Kane
• Paul Kwo as Martin Yip
• Jon Lindstrom as Superintendent Jim Powell
• Eamonn McCrystal as Simon Boyle
• Abigail Duhon as Jessica
• The Newsboys (cameo) as themselves
• Mike Huckabee, Lee Strobel, and J. Warner Wallace (cameo) as themselves

Production

In July 2015, it was announced that production of God's Not Dead 2 was nearly complete.

Release

Promotion

The day before the Iowa caucuses, presidential candidate Mike Huckabee (who appears in one scene) offered a free screening of the film. A billboard for the film was prevented from being displayed at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

Box office

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $7.6 million (less than the original's opening of $8.6 million), finishing fourth at the box office behind Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($51.3 million), Zootopia ($19.3 million) and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 ($11.2 million). As of June 16, 2016 the film has grossed over $20.8 million domestically.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 10%, based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 3.6/10. The site's consensus states: "Every bit the proselytizing lecture promised by its title, God's Not Dead 2 preaches ham-fistedly to its paranoid conservative choir." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 22 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Bill Zwecker of the Chicago Sun-Times felt that the underlying issues presented in the film are relevant in today's world, but criticized its lack of subtlety, saying, "the entire film simply comes off as a two-hour, jazzed-up movie version of a sermon." Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter criticized the film's "straw man" argument and its perceived victimizing of Christians: "Pounding its agenda with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, God's Not Dead 2 will no doubt please its target audience. Everyone else will be left wondering why its fans seem to be suffering from such a persecution complex." Jordan Hoffman at The Guardian deemed it "a much better movie than God's Not Dead, but that's a bit like saying a glass of milk left on the table hasn't curdled and is merely sour" and stated that "it is unfortunately just professional enough that there are only brief instances of transcendent badness, rather than drawn-out sequences." Nick Olszyk of Catholic World Report said that the film "doesn't have the knockout punch of its predecessor but still a decent left hook.

In reviewing the film, Roger Patterson, of the Christian apologetics organization Answers in Genesis, stated that although the film was "much better than the first" due to the absence of the evolutionary ideas in the first film as well as other aspects, he criticized the film for presenting an "empirical, evidentialist apologetic that pointed to Jesus as a simple historical figure," as well as having many Christian clichés.

The Christian Post was more positive, calling the film "a much-improved sequel" with better acting and a more believable plot.

Related

Pat Boone and Mike Huckabee, both of whom appear in the film and executive producer Troy Duhon sent a letter to California Governor Jerry Brown opposing Senate Bill 1146 which "prohibits a person from being subjected to discrimination" at California colleges. Other than religious schools -- those that train pastors and theology teachers -- schools "might no longer be allowed to hire Christian-only staff, teach religious ideas in regular classes, require attendance at chapel services or keep bathrooms and dormitories restricted to either males or females."

External links

• Official website
• God's Not Dead 2 at IMDb
• God's Not Dead 2 at Box Office Mojo
• God's Not Dead 2 at Rotten Tomatoes
• God's Not Dead 2 at Metacritic