Nothing Godly or Kingly in Exodus: Gods and Kings

2.5 stars | Action-fantasy | PG-13 | 144 min.

Cast: Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, John Turturro, Aaron Paul, Ben Mendelsohn, Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley, Maria Valverde, Dar Salim, Golshifteh Farahani, Indira Varma, Hiam Abbass, Tara Fitzgerald and Isaac Andrews.

My opinion: Ridley Scott is the man behind movies like Gladiator (2000), Robin Hood (2010) and now Exodus: Gods and Kings. After watching the movie, all I can say is the latest venture of this popular filmmaker has failed to impress me. This is probably the worst film made by the ace director.

A biblical plot

Plot: Moses (Bale), a commander and Ramses (Edgerton), his son are both loyal to the Egyptian Pharaoh, Seti (Turturro). A prediction is foretold that the savior of the king in the battle will also revolt against the Pharaoh of Egypt. The happens but it is overlooked by the Seti. Immediately after the war, Moses goes to the Hebrew colony of slaves and discovers his Hebrew origin from Nun (Ben Kingsley) but he doesn’t believe and goes away. Later, Ramses is informed about the lineage of Moses through one of his Viceroy Hegep (Mendelsohn). Ramses sends Moses to exile, who roams in the desert until he finds a group of shepherds and eventually lives and marries with Zipporah (Maria Valverde).

Nine years later, Moses meets with a boy named Malak (Isaac Andrews), who is the representation of God, in a mountain and decides to visit Egypt, on His command. Leaving his family behind, Moses reaches his village and finds, to his dismay, the autocracies of the king. He confronts a shocked Ramses and tells him to stop his doings and goes away. In the aftermath of this event, Ramses orders public execution until Moses turns himself in. Meanwhile, Moses continues to talk with Malak, who hints him of an impending danger about to happen. Soon follows a widespread plague which engulfs entire Egypt - water turning to blood, menace of frogs, coughing of blood before dying, death of livestock, raining of hail storm, locust swarming and finally death of every first born in each Egyptian home (including Ramses son) - forcing Ramses to banish Moses from Egypt with all Hebrews. Moses, along with all other Hebrews, make for Canaan. However, Ramses decides to kill Moses and thus follows a hunt for Hebrews, finally culminating in the Red Sea in a grand spectacle. We can see Moses carving out The Ten Commandments on the slab of a stone in the final scene.

 

What I liked: The movie does nicely in showing the vast

kingdom of Egypt. The huge and fantastic set pieces depicts

The CGI was good

the ancient city of Egypt beautifully. The 3-D is nicely executed and the battle sequences with the horses and the chariots flying with speed and vengeance are brilliantly shot and is a treat to watch. The CGI developed for the last scene with a vast swelling ocean in the background is breathtaking. The costumes are well designed. 

What I thought was lacking: But that is it. Baring the effects and the enormous set pieces, the film fails in all other departments. The direction of Ridley Scott lacks depth. Even in Robin Hood (2010), without all the visual effects and CGI, I was able to sit throughout as I felt the story was flowing, which is not the case in this movie. Even though, Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton do a commendable job, the storytelling was so weak and clumsy, that you will lose interest. I feel the story has been dragged at many places. There are scenes which slow the story telling process and it is quite boring at times. Then again in the second half, with all the CGI sequences riding over one another, only showcase the poor editing in this movie. At certain times, it is felt that the scenes are just placed one after another without much thought or meaning. The story itself lacked conviction and failed to hold the audience. Even the music is not so enthralling.

Overall: Now, I don’t know exactly the true story about the Hebrews and my judgment is based only on the movie. Even though I like some scenes, my overall experience is not satisfactory. As for me, this is the worst Ridley Scott movie where most of the things doesn’t seem right. It’s a two and a half stars out of five for me.