Last night, I watched Exodus: Gods and Kings. I'm not going to be kind.
In the beginning Ridley Scott created Exodus and it was bad. Really bad. My suspicions were confirmed when within the first minute, the movie got basic details wrong: the time scale (the general consensus is that the Exodus happened around 1440BC, not in 1300BC, as the movie stated). Also, the Israelites were slaves in Egypt for 215 years, not 400 years.
I'm not sure how Ridley Scott buggered up so badly, but I guess we'd be expecting too much if this weren't another Prometheus (admittedly that movie is rather average, but still not this terrible). What I want to know, is who throws millions upon millions of dollars at directors and then only offers them half-ar$ed scripts? It's happened all too often!
Exodus: Gods and Kings is the story of Moses from his time as a general (um?) to his crossing of the Red Sea. This movie features spectacular visuals and an impressive scope, but this is largely for naught since the script is so dull and lifeless. It has no heart. The main actors/actresses are severely miscast e.g. Christian Bale as Moses is normally a great actor, but here he looks bored out of his skull and Joel Edgerton as Ramses is just silly. Several supporting actors/actresses are both miscast and underused e.g. Sigourney Weaver and Aaron Paul (of Breaking Bad fame). The rest of the cast do a good to great job. But it's rather infuriating to see most of the cast confused to find themselves in a biblical epic. Honestly, the viewer has no reason to care about anyone in this movie. So why bother?
Now let's talk about the main event - God. He's barely in the freaking movie! Well, he's there as some snooty-nosed kid for a few scenes, but there's nothing holy or loving about Him. Ridley Scott has somehow removed everything exciting about the story of Moses and tried to make a movie with it. There's almost no semblance of the supernatural to be found anywhere. The famous court scenes between Moses and Pharaoh and later, the magicians - not there. The Ten Plagues of Egypt - present and one of the better scenes in the movie, but caused by presumably naturalistic means (funnily enough, the crocodile scene in the Nile is one of the highlights). God doesn't appear to the Israelites as a column of fire or a pillar of smoke. The Israelites don't even cross through the middle of the Red Sea with walls of water either side. And Moses conversing with God on Mount Sinai is covered in several seconds. Bah!
For all of its pomp and ceremony, Exodus: Gods and Kings is dead in the water (pun intended). The title suggests a supernatural showdown between the gods of ancient Egypt and the true God of Israel, but we don't get that. We get two bratty kids brawling in a huge wonderland theme park. Shame on you, Mr Scott. Shame on you! You're not getting off scott-free with this one.
A visually impressive steaming pile of crap. Avoid this movie and check out Darren Aronofsky's Noah. It's subversive, but (mostly) brilliant. If you want the story of Moses, watch the excellent Prince of Egypt. Or better yet, read the Bible.
5/10