Review of Gods of Egypt (2016) by Thequietgamer — 13 Aug 2016

Big, pompous, and flashy. It's an overblown, fantasy CGI-fest. Admittedly though it's better than the rest of it's ilk. It's still got it's cheesiness, but what saves the movie from being terrible is that it manages to keep a mostly straight-face about itself. It never dives into any camp or self-aware humor. That ultimately saves it's stupidity from being, well, just too stupid.

It's got some interesting twists on Egyptian mythology. Things get pretty crazy and weird at times. That's something that ultimately works in it's favor. The amount of crazy crap going on keeps things moving even when the movie is focusing on overly familiar themes of revenge, redemption, and love. The cast itself is great. For whatever reason though, the director (Alex Proyas) has Brenton Thwaites acting way too calm in the face of danger. To the point where it doesn't make any sense. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau of Game of Thrones fame is the highlight. I've never been a big Gerard Butler fan, but he was really good as the villain.

There is a lot of CGI used here. The emphasis on the movie seems to be big spectacle. There's a problem with that. This isn't the best CGI. It's not terrible and things can look really good at times. However there are other times where things look way too fake and you can tell they are just standing in front of a green screen. The movie just isn't pretty enough to really sell everything.

It's some nice doses of humor, action, and craziness. The plot is familiar and the romance cliché, but the cast is entirely onboard. It's a little too over-the-top and out there and the special effects just aren't that special. It's the type of movie where you're either onboard or your not. However even if you are up for it, it's hard to deny there's plenty of more satisfying entertainment out there. Still, it could've been a heck of a lot worse and it does have it's thrills and imagination to keep from being a complete waste. There are just better alternatives out there.

6.