Exodus: Gods and Kings – Movie Review

The casting of Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton as ancient Egyptians Moses and Ramses has been a controversial topic and is actually causing many to boycott Ridley Scott’s “Exodus: Gods and Kings”. Although I can completely understand why this has so many up in arms, it just didn’t feel like much of a big deal to me as I sat through this mildly entertaining bloated big budget biblical blockbuster-hopeful. Besides, if the casting of Bale and Edgerton piss you off, wait until you spot Aaron Paul and Sigourney Weaver in this thing. I for one have been waiting for a movie that would introduce us to Moses in 3D (Kidding of course).

After Moses was banished from his home when the truth of his Jewish origins was revealed, he wanders into a village where he eventually falls in love, marries and has a son. Moses never followed a God, but after getting caught in a rock slide, he has a vision of God in the form of a young boy and of course a burning bush. The vision sets Moses on a path to help set free 400,000 slaves and put an end to Ramses rule.

“Exodus” starts off pretty slowly and much of the dialogue the cast must spew is right up there with some of the worse big-budget Hollywood films out there. I mean, the lines uttered are “Transformers” kind of bad. That being said, once the massive and relentless plagues arrive, things really start kicking into over-drive. It is also when the 3D begins to actually impress. Also, the parting of the Red Sea sequence is handled in a way that was better than I expected.

“Exodus” isn’t a great film. Its’ got a good cast that may not be the best for this particular story, but at least they give it their all. There is plenty to enjoy and for those who are not familiar with the story of Moses and Ramses, this is one of the most entertaining ways to learn about them.

By: Marc Ferman