Exodus: Gods and Kings

Hello all! 

I'd like to start off this post by making a very exciting announcement: I have officially released my first novel titled Agents and Angels on Amazon.com for purchase! It's best described as a spy/action novel and I'll be sharing more information on it over the course of the next couple weeks. If you would like to purchase it please CLICK HERE and know that I would be beyond honored for you to do so. 

Now, to the review at hand. After a weekend with no new releases last week (way to screw that one up, Hollywood), we start off the month of December with a Biblical epic, similar to the likes of Noah from earlier this year. Exodus: Gods and Kings is Ridley Scott's newest film, coming off last year's atrocious and incredibly disappointing The Counselor (seriously, what happened there?), Scott decided to go back to something that he does best: large-scale, epic cinema. 

Now, even though hindsight is 20/20, I must admit I overrated Noah a tad, and I think many other critics would agree that they too, overrated it. I wouldn't say I missed the mark on it by a significant amount, but as the year went on, I began to remember the film in a more negative light as I really had some issues with it outside of what it did well. One of the main things that irked a lot of people, especially those who hold the Old Testament as the strict truth, is that Noah played with the story a considerable amount, and even introduced some more fantastical elements. Although I too was a bit disappointed by this departure, it made for a more entertaining story and I believe it prompted healthy debate among audiences. Exodus: Gods and Kings, from what I remember of my days in a Christian elementary school, doesn't play with the story hardly at all and is a rather strict retelling of the events that took place in the story of Moses. I appreciated this straight-forward approach, but it does tend to hurt the film in the long-run as it's incredibly predictable unless you have never heard the story of Moses before. I can't knock it too much for that though as it's a bit unfair, and I think several critics are unfairly bashing on Moses for "lacking heart" (something that it does indeed lack). It's hard to create a highly emotional story out of a retelling of a popular Biblical tale...everyone already knows what is going to happen.

Not gonna lie...I was super jealous of Ramses' armor (on the right)

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The fist bump wasn't even around back then!!

I had some more significant issues with Exodus other than it's lack of heart, which honestly it doesn't really seem was Scott's main priority over telling the story correctly, which I admire. Recently there has been buzz about Scott's "controversial" decision to hire white actors for parts that would be better suited for darker-skinned ones. I personally couldn't have cared less and I think it's a silly debate. But, outside of skin color, there are some terrible casting decisions throughout the film that really rip you straight from it. I won't go and list every single one, but the one that bothered me the most was Sigourney Weaver who looked completely artificial as an Egyptian and had maybe 5-10 lines the entire film. It was wasted talent and the insertion of a big name star into such a small (and ultimately unnecessary role) was nothing but a distraction. Almost equally as distracting was the script. It wasn't bad per say, but it was just written for the completely wrong time period. The dialogue between characters is not a far cry from what we would say in this day and age, and there are even some borderline slang terms and colloquialisms thrown about. I went in expecting language somewhat the equivalent to an episode of Spartacus (without all the cursing), but instead it was as if the characters were of the 21st century. In short, some very odd choices are what plague Exodus the most. Eh? See what I did there?

The equivalent to a Nebraska summer day

Where Exodus succeeds however is in grandeur and epic spectacle. The story of Moses has never been told in a time with this much sophistication around visual effects and the result is stunning. This is where Scott certainly has an eye and the images he is able to create of the plagues and of the parting of the Red Sea are astonishing and fantastic. During the film's several battle scenes, the action is captured in classic Scott-style and is generally well choreographed. Despite many of the film's casting woes, I rather enjoyed Christian Bale in the lead as Moses and I also found that a bald, heavily eye-lined Joel Edgerton did a good job as Ramses. They provide little depth past the Biblical tale to the characters, but that's generally in line with how the rest of the film presents itself. I also was really impressed, and this is what might piss some people off, of the casting of God as a child, and one with rather malicious intent at that. The young actor does well in the role up against Bale, and it was a neat creative decision by Scott to have God represented in this manner. 

Visually outstanding

Many critics will have gripes with Exodus and rightfully so. I enjoyed it more than most I assume as I appreciated the attempt at a straight forward Moses story without many unnecessary accoutrements. That leads itself to removing some of the heart of the film, but in my opinion, the visual wonderment more than makes up for that slight pitfall. For me it was really the odd decisions (outside of the God casting) that hurt Exodus in the long run and I imagine it could have been a better film had someone raised the red flag at some point in time. 

Or should I say...the Red Sea? Eh? (I'll see myself out...)

CONS:

• Some really odd decisions in the casting department lead to some unnecessary distractions by recognizable stars in small roles
• As a strict retelling, the film doesn't offer up much new and thus the audience knows how it will play out
• A bit of an odd choice of location to end the story
• The original score for a movie of this scale is incredibly disappointing, especially given how awesome the music in the initial trailers was
• The script was not created with Biblical language and wordage in mind. Someone dropped the ball big time in this regard
• For me, it was really a one-time view

PROS:

• Visually fantastic and epic in every sense of the word. The plague sequences and Red Sea battle are outstanding
• Great cinematography
• Bale and Edgerton do well in their roles and their leadership of the film is strong
• I enjoyed the creative decision to make God a small child and it should lend itself to some interesting debate in coming weeks
• The decision to make it a tight retelling of the original, Biblical tale was one that I agreed with and appreciated
• The story of Moses is a really compelling one

Rath's Review Score 7.5/10