David Review (Spoilers)

I went to watch the movie David by Angel Studios with my mom and my brother. As the title of the movie suggests, the movie tells the Biblical story of David who is anointed by the prophet Samuel to be king in place of Saul. After he defeats Goliath, David becomes well-liked amongst the people. This makes King Saul jealous, and he suspects that David is trying to take the kingdom away from him, so he tries to kill him. Now David must run away from Saul. But if you have read the Bible, then you already know what happens in the end.

The Good

One thing I loved about this movie was the animation. It was gorgeous. The textures for the characters’ hair and clothing were amazing, the colors in the movie were vibrant, and the character designs were interesting. 

One thing I appreciated about this movie was that it didn’t portray Israel as a land with only sand. I feel like some movies that are depicting Israel or other places fall into the trap of depicting the area as too barren. There usually isn’t enough greenery. However, this movie shows enough greenery to make the world feel more alive and immersive. One scene in the movie that will always stick with me is when David goes to face Goliath, because the battlefield is littered with red blossoms. That scene was so vibrant, and the way they depicted David taking down Goliath with a stone and sling was so good. Whoever was responsible for the color script did an amazing job.

Another thing I enjoyed was the music. I think my favorite song is “Tapestry,” when David and his mother sing about the uncertainty of not knowing what God’s plan is, but they can have faith that He knows what He is doing. David’s mother compares God to a weaver, saying that though things look messy during the weaving process, all becomes clear once the tapestry is finished. I think that was a beautiful and accurate analogy to how God works in our lives. We don’t always know what is happening, but God does, and all we have to do is obey Him and trust Him.

Also, David is portrayed as a kind-hearted guy, and I enjoyed seeing how he interacted with people. There were a couple of nice scenes showing him help people, which helped him earn respect from others. I also enjoyed his interactions with his mother, who gave him good advice and was always trying to make sure he was okay.

The Bad (and the Ugly)

Now while the animation was beautiful, and the music is good for the most part, the movie had one huge problem: it kept changing things about the Biblical story. The first sign of trouble was at the beginning of the movie. In the beginning, David must defend his flock of sheep against a lion. He manages to shove the lion into this gap between a cliff face and a boulder. I figured that the writers didn’t want to show David killing the lion on screen for some reason, so I assumed that David was just going to leave the lion there so that it would eventually die offscreen.

I was wrong.

For some reason, the writers thought it was a great idea to have David, a shepherd who is tasked with protecting his sheep from predators, help the lion get unstuck, setting him free. David let the lion who just tried to kill his sheep go. In the Bible, David explicitly says that God delivered him from the paw of the bear and the lion, and that he killed both predators to defend his flock (1 Samuel 17:34-37). Yet in the movie, David thinks that the lion will leave him and his sheep alone now, which isn’t realistic. That lion will be a constant threat if it’s not dealt with, and if it doesn’t terrorize David’s flock, it could terrorize someone else’s.

What really strikes me as odd is that when it came to defeating Goliath, the movie was able to depict it fairly well. The people making the movie didn’t hesitate to show David killing Goliath, a person, with a stone and a sling. Yet those same people didn’t want to show David killing a lion? Make it make sense.

But speaking of David killing Goliath, they changed one part about that too. The movie doesn’t even hint at the fact that David took Goliath’s sword and sliced his head off like he does in the Bible. My guess is that Angel Studios wanted to keep the movie as kid friendly as possible, but if that were the case, they could have simply taken a page out of Superbook’s book. Just show David swinging the sword at Goliath but keep Goliath’s body offscreen.

However, that was not the worst part of the movie. The worst part was when David had to save his family and his people from the Amalekites. Now in the Bible, David asked God what he should do, and God told him to pursue the Amalekites, for he would overtake them and win (1 Samuel 30:7-9). So David and his men attacked the Amalekites, defeated them, and saved their families.

But in the movie, David goes after the Amalekites alone. He doesn’t even bring his sword with him. When he finds the Amalekites, who have his people hostage, he does the most Hollywood, Disney-esque thing ever. He tells his people not to be afraid and starts singing.

I wish I was joking.

Thankfully, an Amalekite bonks him on a head before he can finish. My mom laughed at this part for obvious reasons. But at the time, all I could do was cringe and wonder why on earth Angel Studios thought this scene was a good idea. It made absolutely no sense, and it wasn’t biblically accurate at all.

As the Amalekites are getting ready to behead David, the rest of the Israelites start singing the song too. This singing doesn’t really do anything except make the leader of the Amalekites shrug, like “Okay, if you wanna sing, fine. But I’m still killing this David guy.”

But then David’s men rush in with swords and shields in hand singing “Follow the Light,” and they scare away the Amalekites. This “battle” doesn’t even show them beating any of the Amalekites up. It’s just the army chasing the Amalekites away as everyone sings a medley of all the songs that were sung in that movie.

Don’t get me wrong, the singing is great, but the events leading up to it made so little sense, that it comes off as a little shallow. For example, why didn’t David’s men follow him from the start? I guess because they are too distraught and upset about losing their families to follow him right away. Which makes no sense whatsoever, because in the Bible, it clearly says that David and his men went together to overtake the Amalekites after God gave them the green light.

That whole scene where the people start singing reminded my brother of this scene in Wish, where the people of Rosas defeated the evil sorcerer Magnifico with the power of song for some reason.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the movie was fine. Though I really enjoyed the start of the movie, things broke down towards the end. In my opinion, Angel Studios took way too many creative liberties when it came to the story. There were too many scenes that were not accurate to the Bible, and the scene where everyone starts singing to stand up to the Amalekites was embarrassing to watch. I want to assume that the main reason there were so many changes was that Angel Studios wanted to make the movie as kid friendly as possible. However, even the Superbook episodes about David are more biblically accurate than this movie is, so I can’t say that is a good excuse.

Despite this, I’m sure there are many kids who will enjoy this film, and the ratings in general are positive. I think this movie could help children get more interested in reading the Bible, so they could read what really happens for themselves. 

Since the animation was so beautiful, I hope that Angel Studios makes an art book to show the behind-the-scenes artwork that was made for this movie. I would love to see it.

Have you seen this movie? If so, what are your thoughts on it?