A lot has been made of the ridiculous casting already so why bother making
fun of it further? Movies aren't made in a vacuum; Ridley Scott has been around
long enough to know that, and to fall back on the silly casting practices of
old Hollywood is inexcusable. So you want a film set in ancient Egypt full of a
bunch of Brits and Aussies? Then this is the movie for you. It would be one
thing if the acting was good enough that their ethnicities didn't matter but
that's not the case. And Scott has fallen into the trap of relying too much on
the "pop" of technical wizardry to develop much of a human drama out
of Moses' inspiring story of unshakable faith.
Christian Bale brings his typical intensity to the role of Moses, and his
story is one even us heathens know by heart. Adopted son of the current
Egyptian Pharaoh (John Turturro, caked in makeup like everybody else) and
brother to the future ruler Rhamses (Joel Edgerton), Moses serves loyally until
it’s discovered he’s actually Hebrew. The Hebrew slaves (including Ben Kingsley
and Aaron Paul, sadly underused) know the truth, but Moses is unwilling to accept
it until his hand is forced. Rhamses, suffering a twinge of jealousy at the
bond between Moses and his father, sees it as a chance to banish him from the
kingdom. Exiled, Moses begins a family and is happy until he starts being
visited by God, who is apparently a really angry little child. When an angry
God-boy tells you to embrace your heritage and free the Hebrew slaves, you do
it.
The problem, one of many, is that the middle section of the film sees
Moses watching from the sidelines as God unleashes his terrible plagues. Scott
seems especially enamored of this section because it gives him a chance to fill
the screen with CGI locusts, flies, and toads. At this point in his career
Scott has given in to the "more is better" way of filmmaking, and as
such every one of his epics looks the same. Gladiator resembles Robin
Hood which resembles Exodus. What happened to the guy who was able
to build personal human dramas within large-scale blockbusters? It's hard to
get a read on this version of Moses. He isn't particularly humble, nor does he
seem all that dedicated to God's cause. The best scenes of the film are the
unintentionally funny conversations he has with a very petulant God, who just
wants to rain down death and destruction. The plagues are depicted in all of
their horrific glory, but they're still pretty bland visually. Chariot
and horse battles have the widescreen appeal we'd expect from Scott but they're
hardly up to his past standard.
That's not to say there aren't some good ideas here and there. The first
half of the film is hardly spiritual at all, grounding Moses' story in a
dedication to family. But this idea is never fully realized and is completely lost
to the fantastical, so that Moses remains a man we never completely understand.
Perhaps there was a better movie left on the cutting room floor somewhere. So
many screenwriters got their hands on the script something was bound to be lost
in the process. Unfortunately, what seems to have disappeared is anything to
justify watching Exodus: Gods and Kings when popping in a DVD of The
Ten Commandments would be more fulfilling.
Rating: 2 out of 5
