I just discovered that Bishop Robert Barron has recorded movie reviews for over 15 years on YouTube, so I watched a bunch of them. Unlike regular movie reviews, his reviews only briefly touch on the plot of the movie. He spends most of his time pointing out Christian analogies or themes in the movies he reviews. For example, his review of The Matrix is in Part 1 and Part 2. He connects the events of the movie with the Israelites flight from Egypt, the 40 years in the desert, and their journey to Zion. He also sees Cypher (the betrayer) as someone who prefers the comfort of the fake world of the matrix as similar to the Israelites who grumbled against Moses, saying that at least in Egypt they had flesh pots. There's a really good comparison between the Red Pill that initiates the liberation from the matrix and Sacramentals, in that both are promises of things as yet unseen.
In his analysis of The Hobbit he sees Gandalf as an angel giving Bilbo an invitation to grace that requires breaking out of his comfort zone. There is also a good message about simple acts of love and pity over acts of worldly power.
His analysis of Doctor Strange focuses on a refutation of scientism and touches on the gnosticism in this movie and the Star Wars.
I watched his commentary on Arrival, the 2016 sci-fi movie about communication with an alien race. Somehow he connected it to how we understand the bible, but his analysis was maybe a bit too deep for me. I did like Arrival when it came out, so that's why I watched the review, and I sort of got what he was saying about revelation, but I'm not sure.
There are many movie commentaries the bishop made over these many years, and you can find them all on YouTube. I suppose that is what comes of being bishop of the Hollywood.
This one surprised Bishop Barron himself. He went to watch the James Bond movie, Skyfall in 2012 just for fun, not intending to make a review, and found these Catholic connections.
This commentary is not a movie review, but I found very comforting and inspirational for understanding suffering as part of God's providence. St. John Paul II said "for people of faith there are no coincidences - only aspects of God's providence not fully understood." Bishop Barron in this commentary suggests a providential link from John Henry Newman to the thinking of J.R.R. Tokien and Lord of the Rings to the Stephen Colbert and his trauma of losing his father and two brothers in the plane crash when he was 10. Watch it here.
Cinderella movie - an allegory of Christian salvation
In 2015 there was a live-action film retelling of the classic, Cinderella. In this review, Bishop Barron discusses the ways this film is an allegory of Christian salvation: https://youtu.be/qwCl_xcF4nA
