More Really Good Opening Credits
The movie Sahara (2005) still has the greatest opening credits sequence of any film to date, but the ones heading The Visitation (2006) are awfully good. Exceptionally artistic and cleverly constructed, they serve double duty by relating necessary back story that the seminal novel doesn't as clearly relate.
The design in the opening credits is replicated in a general fashion throughout the film, particularly in the "flash of insight" sequences. Of the many Christian-oriented films I've seen this one stands out as more of a Hollywood big-budget film. Without hiring big name actors it looks like the producers could put the money into great lighting, photography, and other production aspects.
The balance of the film is fairly good, perhaps even more than that. If I hadn't known it was a Frank Peretti story I probably would have guessed it anyway. The author is something of a Stephen King from the rural Northwest but with a Christian bent. The supernatural in his stories is a direct result of the conflict between Heaven and Hell. Demons are real in this story, though the angels that populate most of Peretti's other works don't appear in the same fashion -- frequently and with personalities. Once again, the author focuses on a minister dealing a crisis of faith and he needs to rally back to fighting form to battle evil influences invading the town. In this instance, the evil comes in the form of a Messiah who gathers adherents with miracles and mystery. The fine character studies found in the novel are reproduced well here though few films have ever recreated the qualities of print. The story isn't as suspenseful as the trailer pretends, but all-in-all the viewer's attention is kept while events unfold.
