The spirit of a murdered king gives a young boy a cloak of Miracles to raise him from the dead. But the boy soon discovers that working miracles is not as easy as he imagined in Lewis Critchley’s “The Lost Mantle of Elijah”.
Made in 2013, “The Lost Mantle of Elijah” is a strange concoction of a film. At its core, it’s an old-fashioned swashbuckling adventure but the meat on these bones is distinctly religious in tone, becoming a Christian film about faith and belief. The feature follows young Kai (Louis Levi) – a teenager who inherits a legendary cloak rumoured to possess incredible powers, including the power to raise the dead. Once the cloak is in his possession, Kai must face a rogue prophet named Elijah, a band of pirates led by Baxter (Paul Sugars), and a looming apocalypse signalling the end of the world. And just when you think things couldn’t get any worse, Kai’s mother Anfisa (Eaoifa Forward), is kidnapped by the very same gang of pirates. With the fate of the world and his mother hanging in the balance, Kai must find the courage to stop the villains and we as the audience should be getting ready to enjoy a swaggering sci-fi adventure. Unfortunately “The Lost Mantle Of Elijah” doesn’t quite add up to the sum of its parts
There should be a lot to like about “The Lost Mantle of Elijah” with its captivating blend of adventure, fantasy, and biblical themes. Director and writer Lewis Critchley has sought to create a film that is both fun and thought-provoking, drawing inspiration from classic films like “Rio Bravo” and “The Three Musketeers.” While the narrative of his script strives to connect contemporary themes of conspiracy theories and hidden power structures with the timeless stories of the Old Testament. The cast delivers decent performances; different actors deliver their lines in different ways choosing between serious, earnestness, or camp scenery chewing, but each choice captures the film’s intended light-hearted tone. However, what holds the film back are the technical aspects of the production. There are a lot of CGI effects throughout the 80-minute runtime but even for the time period a decade or so ago, they are slipshod at best, and the constant musical score that never lets up drowns out quieter moments that hinder the emotional impact.
For a low-budget independent film, there are some successes. Critchley isn’t afraid to ask big questions and by imagining figures like Elijah in a modern setting, he challenges viewers to contemplate faith, divine intervention, and the interpretations of religious doctrine. It’s a “what-if” scenario that honours the core of the Christian faith while also sparking discussions about it.
Lovers of nostalgia will find plenty to enjoy too, as Critchley shows his fandom towards classic adventure films like “Kings Solomon’s Mines” “The Empire Strikes Back,” and “Indiana Jones” With the “Flash Gordon” serials of the 40’s and 50’s that influenced those films evident here. While the prioritizing of practical effects and real-world locations helps create an immersive experience.
Ultimately, “The Lost Mantle of Elijah” is a charming indie effort with a captivating premise that suffers from some serious technical limitations that unfortunately hinder the experience, it’s a film of big ideas that deserves credit for its ambition, but it becomes less of a swashbuckling adventure steeped in biblical mystery and more of a computer generated damp squib.
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