Lest we forget, God's Not Dead (2014) concluded with its smug atheist villain dying painfully in the street, something our Christian protagonists proclaimed "a cause for celebration." Nothing in its sequel is so baldly offensive, yet it's saturated with the same smug, sour whining.Teacher Grace Wesley (Melissa Joan Hart) mentions Jesus during a classroom lecture and faces termination by the school board. Adding insult to injury, she's sued by the ACLU, whose lead prosecutor Kane (Ray Wise) hopes the case will literally prove God is dead. Grace refuses to back down, with attorney Tom Endler (Jesse Metcalfe) seeking to prove Jesus's existence.
It says something that God's Not Dead 2 is dumber than the original, which was inspired by an Internet meme. In reality, the ACLU would jump to defend Grace, since she's fired purely on religious grounds - in other words, their exact raison d'etre. There's also no way Grace would be fired for answering a student's innocuous question, or that the judge (Ernie Hudson) would allow Pastor Dave (David A.R. White) as a jury member. It's so hackishly contrived that soap opera fans could pick it apart.
But God's Not Dead 2 plays specifically to a subset of Christians who view gay marriage and Happy Holidays banners as oppression portending a new St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. Ray Wise's Kane is even more monstrous than Kevin Sorbo, plotting to destroy Christians everywhere and make money on the side. He even gloats when Pastor Dave suffers a heart attack! We eagerly await his grisly demise, but sadly Grace and Tom must settle for legal victory.
As before, Dead pads its runtime with useless subplots, many featuring minor characters from the original. Pastor Dave and his buddy (Benjamin Onyango) turn up for excruciating comic relief. Chinese student Martin (Paul Kwo) is disowned by his father in a half-assed retread of the original's evil Muslim plot. Blogger Amy Ryan (Trisha LaFache) renounces her liberal ways, then putters around the story's fringes. Another Duck Dynasty star, Sadie Robertson, proves less obnoxious than her father.
Melissa Joan Hart, having renounced teenaged witchcraft, is restricted to soggy, wide-eyed bafflement. Jesse Metcalfe does a half-assed impression of Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men, strutting smugly and pulling legal tricks that should land him in contempt. Hayley Orrantia is the student who unwittingly triggers the controversy; Pat Boone plays Grace's dad. Mike Huckabee, fresh from anointing Kim Pickens an American hero, cameos, along with Fred Thompson, far removed from his glory days grilling Alexander Butterfield.
Movies like God's Not Dead 2 appeal to a very specific audience. It's balm to evangelicals who equate secular thought with tyranny. At last, a movie repudiating Hollyweird Values! Other viewers will treat it with bemused, profanity-laced contempt.
