It is the start of the new week (AND the week before Christmas, if you can believe it! Shopping yet to be done, anyone?), and so I wanted to complete the transition from late afternoon into the evening with the final film review for this now-past weekend. I will say straight up that I had some HIGH expectations for this movie, given my overall disappointment in the first epic-style film from earlier in year based on a major Old Testament character. So…how did THIS effort stand up? Let’s find out, as I bring to you my thoughts on “Exodus: Gods & Kings”.
SEE THE TRAILER HERE
This latest effort to bring a mainstay Biblical character to the big screen comes courtesy of a director who is most certainly no stranger to historical/epic films, Ridley Scott (“Gladiator“, “Kingdom Of Heaven“). The story starts us out in the adult years of Moses (Christian Bale) who has been raised as a son and prince of Egypt by Pharaoh Seti (John Turturro) along with his actual son, Ramses (Joel Edgerton), whom Moses considers a brother. This paints a picture of Moses as one of the Generals in Seti’s army, fighting the Hittites alongside Ramses, as well as one who takes it upon himself to check out the overly opulent living accommodations of Viceroy Hegep (Ben Mendelsohn), who oversees the massive Hebrew slave labor force that builds Seti’s empire. And so life and duties at the palace go on, while another aspect of Egyptian culture, their gods and religion, are treated as foolishness by Moses. As Seti’s health declines to the point of passing, and Ramses takes over as Pharaoh, the true origins of Moses’ heritage are revealed and he is forced into exile. While in this place of loneliness, he meets a woman, Zipporah (Maria Valverde), who soon becomes his wife. But God has other plans for Moses, and reveals that he must return to Egypt and be his people’s leader to freedom. As this plan unfolds and Ramses becomes aware of it, Moses actually resists the mission he’s been tasked with, despite the treatment of the slaves he now witnesses, AND even as God brings the Plagues upon the Egyptians. Moses becomes more angry with God as these events unfold, thinking God is being to harsh. But God continues with His plan, and finally, when the last event hits Ramses VERY personally, the oppressive Pharaoh demands that the Hebrews leave and seek out their land of destiny in Canaan. So the entire lot, now led by a more compliant Moses, heads towards their promised home. But Ramses, realizing he will STILL not be one-upped by slaves, takes his army and chases after them. The journey comes to a head on the shores of the Red Sea, as God’s hand guides the Hebrews to safety, and wrecks havoc on Pharaoh’s pursuing army, Ramses learning his vanity has cost him everything. And so Moses leads the people, having one more communing with God in the creation of laws that will govern the people, and older and wiser, continues the journey with his people to the Promised Land.
As a FILM, visually and acting-wise, this is a well done piece. The Plagues striking Egypt and the Red Sea sequence ARE highlights when watching on a big screen, that cannot be denied. It does bring home the potent realities of what God is capable of when warnings are not heeded or when divine help is warranted. Bale and Edgerton are very solid AS the overall characters they play. Edgerton brings that slow burn to Ramses that builds and builds as he watches everything around him fall apart, and yet refuses to unharden his heart. Bale plays Moses as a man of strength and resolve, but also full of doubts, at first questioning many of the things God is doing to use him to lead the Hebrews to freedom. Sadly, there are also many talented actors here who are UNDERused, like Ben Kingsley as Nun, Aaron Paul as Joshua, Sigourney Weaver as Tuya, and Andrew Tarbet as Aaron. THEN there is the plain fact that it is all an ultimately white-washed telling of this epic tale of faith. God is actually DOWNPLAYED quite a lot, and Moses’ borderline absurd reluctance to fulfill what God has called him to do is completely contrived. And even HOW other key moments, like the Burning Bush for example, are executed is so WIERD, that again, it takes AWAY from what should be an awe-inspiring encounter. Plus, the actual visualization OF God is a TOTAL mystery. Why Scott chose to do it the way he did is honestly baffling. It just strikes me that with THE source material to pull the elements of this story from, The Bible, WHY wasn’t that what we received? I knew there would be artistic license taken, but unfortunately, just like “Noah” earlier this year, what we are shown just isn’t a solid representation of the truth. The bare bones BASIC story is present and that’s about it in total. While I think I enjoyed it MORE than “Noah”, Ridley Scott let me down in this effort, and he IS SO capable of better work. Now, this is still an opportunity to have conversations ABOUT the actual Biblical story and to direct people TO that (PLEASE do, just sayin’), but it requires taking in this movie, and for this reviewer personally, I won’t be going to see it again. For the story, better to direct people to the classic “The Ten Commandments” or the modern classic, DreamWorks Animation’s “The Prince of Egypt“, which are MUCH more accurate while ALSO being well acted and visually cool.
As always, though, this is all for YOUR consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
Agree with this review. I kept remembering 10 Commandments even though I saw it quite a long time back.this film was not that awe inspiring. The special effects were quite good which you have not mentioned in that detail. I found the British accent quite funny and takes away from the celestial message. One time see. One can never get tired of seeing 10 commandments again and again.