Review of Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) by David P — 24 May 2015

Coming into this one I wasn't all that enthusiastic. The trailers really didn't sell too much to me. I like Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton, not so much Ridley Scott after the let down that was Prometheus, but hell, I thought, I'll give him another crack. He has made some very good films in the past and if anybody can do an epic like this it's Mr. Scott.

And he actually pulled it off. Exodus was surprisingly a very solid film, and a great retelling of the classic Moses story, keeping a fantastic story fairly grounded. The set pieces are incredible, the production design really bringing Egypt to life and the cinematography is just down right stunning and even God is portrayed in a subtle, non preachy way.

Performance wise the boys have turned up. Bale gives a pretty normal, solid take on Moses. But Edgerton got to have a bit of fun with Ramses, not being an all out bad guy, there are actually times where you sympathise with him over Moses. Aaron Paul from Breaking Bad is in there as well, but I'm not sure why, he barely does anything. A real waste of a great talent.

It's when Moses and God unleash the plagues upon the Egyptians that this flick really hits full speed. These sequences are just fantastic. And they actually give a scientific reason why the plagues would progress like they do, which was nice. And of course there is the parting of the Red Sea in the incredible finale. This just looks amazing and is a really fun scene.

So although there are some wasted characters, Exodus is mostly a good time and I highly recommend seeing it in theatres. 3D if you can, one of the better third dimensional movies out there.

4/5.

'I am a God! I AM A GOD!' - Ramses.