Review: 'The King of Kings' tells Jesus' story to children through elegant animation, hindered by an unnecessary framing device

I don’t remember my old parish priest saying that the story of Jesus needed an adorable cat — but that’s one of the extraneous frills in “The King of Kings,” a computer-animated account from the Gospels that interrupts the telling of Christ’s story with too much comic relief aimed at keeping the little viewers invested.

Made by a South Korean animation house, Mofac Studios, the movie delivers some handsomely realized depictions of stories from the New Testament — Jesus’ birth in a Bethlehem manger, some familiar miracles and parables, his arrival in Jerusalem, the Last Supper, his crucifixion and resurrection. Oscar Isaac, providing the voice of Jesus, captures the import of his words and the serenity as he gets closer to his preordained death. 

And if those scenes were all “The King of Kings” were about, you’d have a nice collection of illustrated Bible stories — with an impressive voice cast that includes Forest Whitaker as Peter, Pierce Brosnan as Pontius Pilate, Ben Kingsley as the high priest Caiaphas, and Mark Hamill as King Herod.

The problem that writer-director Seongho Jang adds to the mix is the framing story, about Charles Dickens and his family. Dickens (voiced by Kenneth Branagh) performs a one-man show of “A Christmas Carol,” but his kids backstage are too rambunctious. So, after one show, Charles brings his King Arthur-obsessed youngest son, Walter (voiced by “Jojo Rabbit” co-star Roman Griffin Davis), into the study to tell him a story about a real king, “the king of kings.” Walter and his cute computer-animated cat are meant to be the young audience’s conduit into the biblical tale, but too often they come off as an annoying distraction.

“The King of Kings” is distributed in the United States by Provo-based Angel Studios, whose main contribution is in its marketing. The last sales pitch comes over the closing credits, with a QR code and video testimonials from kids about the movie we’ve just watched, urging viewers to buy tickets online to give to other people who might want to see it. It’s the same set-up Angel has been using since its breakout hit, “Sound of Freedom” — a promotion that sounds like altruism, but notably isn’t tax deductible.

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‘The King of Kings’

★★1/2

Opens Friday, April 11, in theaters. Rated PG for thematic material, violent content and some scary moments. Running time: 104 minutes.