EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS (2014)

Genre: Adventure/Action
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Aaron Paul, John Turturro, Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley
RunTime: 2 hrs 30 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 11 December 2014

Synopsis: From acclaimed director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Prometheus) comes the epic adventure “Exodus: Gods and Kings,” the story of one man’s daring courage to take on the might of an empire. Using state of the art visual effects and 3D immersion, Scott brings new life to the story of the defiant leader Moses (Christian Bale) as he rises up against the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses (Joel Edgerton), setting 600,000 slaves on a monumental journey of escape from Egypt and its terrifying cycle of deadly plagues.

Movie Review:

How do you get people to listen to you tell a story that they already know the ending to, or worse, have heard countless times before? Ridley Scott’s answer to that, in the case of his swords-and-scandals epic based upon the well-known Biblical tale, is spectacle. Indeed, in ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’, Scott has spared no expense to make sure that Egypt comes vividly to life, or that the ten plagues are given as much luscious detail as necessary, or that the parting of the Red Sea is a truly humbling sight to behold – so much so that even the most imaginative mind will probably be awed over by the sheer spectacle that he has conjured.

Not since Cecil B. DeMille’s ‘The Ten Commandments’ has such budget gone into a live-action retelling of how Moses led the Israelites out of slavery from Egypt to the promised land, and those who are old enough to remember that 1956 classic will no doubt be astounded at how modern-day computer-generated graphics and the use of 3D have transformed the experience of a big-screen motion picture event. Yes, if there’s one thing that Scott has succeeded in doing with his Old Testament blockbuster, it is in reminding both believers and non-believers alike just how remarkable and awe-inspiring the mighty hand and power God wields over the elements of nature and the fates of men.

Against such gargantuan forces, the question remains: is there room for the individual to matter? God’s plan certainly did – as believers will tell you, his plans of salvation through the ages have always rested on the faiths of individual men and women who were willing to put aside their doubts and trust wholeheartedly in the providence of their almighty Creator. So it is with this tale, that God’s plan of salvation for the Israelites would rest on one man, Moses – a logical thinker and in Scott’s interpretation here, an agnostic – who would be challenged through visions to recognise his Hebrew identity, and in doing so, embrace his role in that grand plan as the leader of God’s people.

Unfortunately, not even a quartet of writers (Adam Cooper, Bill Collage, Jeffrey Caine and Oscar winner Steven Zaillian) have been able to ensure that the man isn’t drowned out in Scott’s show of spectacle. Not enough attention is paid to developing the brotherly bond between Moses and his half-brother Ramses, or their simmering rivalry arising from the aging Pharaoh’s (John Turturro) favour of the former. Ditto for Moses’ subsequent awakening to his lineage and to God’s call through the ‘burning bush’ – neither of these turning points feel that they matter as much as they should. Most sorely however is how the screenplay fails to portray Moses’ ambivalence towards God’s methods, reduced simply to a couple of lines delivered with perfunctory angst by Christian Bale – “You don’t always agree with me,” is as far as a response that the writers have managed to come up with.

Lamentably so therefore, this fails to be – as it should – a story of one man as much as it is a story about God. Moses never quite comes to life despite being front and centre no thanks to an underdeveloped script that doesn’t make the character as compelling as he should be, and worse, feeds him cringe-worthy lines from time to time that border on caricature. Bale is best when he is given a complex character to play, but since he isn’t afforded that here, hardly cracks the surface of what could have been an intriguing and multi-faceted personality. The same in fact can be said of every other actor in Scott’s ensemble – from Joel Edgerton as the eyeliner-drawn Ramses, to Ben Kingsley as a wise Jewish elder, and even to a barely-present Sigourney Weaver as the scheming pharaoh’s wife Tuya, each one of the notable cast members struggles to rise above his or her thinly drawn role.

Though the script lets him down, Scott’s strengths as a director remain undiminished. An early attack by the Egyptians on the rival Hittites tribe camped outside the gates of Egypt showcases Scott’s grasp of scale, thrillingly lensed by his regular d.p. Dariusz Wolski with a combination of soaring overhead shots and up close combat footage. Scott takes artistic license to interpret the ten plagues as a series of interconnected events, rather than as discrete happenings, which in turn allows him to not only build a smooth elegant narrative but also maintain a palpable feeling of tension throughout God’s ‘punishment’ of the Israelites.

His boldest choice as helmer however has to be his depiction of God, whom Moses first meets at the ‘bush’ and thereafter in the wilderness just before every major calamity. Scott cannot be ignorant of the implications of portraying God as a small young boy, but whether this is meant to represent the kind of disposition which God expects of his followers or to signify the capricious nature of God is left up to the viewer’s interpretation. What is clear is that Scott keeps to an Old Testament God of wrath, so don’t go expecting this God to be nice, calm or benign for that matter – and you’ll probably do well to keep in mind that this is the God that has watched his people suffer in pain, blood and death the indignities that the Egyptians have lashed on them for the past 400 years.

Unlike ‘Noah’ however, you can rest assured that Scott largely takes a much more conventional reading to the Biblical story; instead, Scott’s intention is really to fashion a swords-and-scandals saga in the mould of ‘Gladiator’ by way of a well-known story with ostensible religious overtones. And in that regard, ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’ is an unvarnished triumph that will leave you awe-struck. Those who know the story will also recognise it as Moses’ faith formation, and whether Scott’s telling has that same transformative effect on his audience is necessarily suspect. But up till the very last frame where an elderly Moses finally arrives near the land of Canaan, you can be sure that there is never a dull moment to be found in this lavish, extravagant and yet oddly alienating epic that could do with a much more humanly centre.

Movie Rating:

(Epic in sheer spectacle, Scott’s Biblical retelling of the story of the Exodus lacks a compelling focus on its lead character Moses)

Review by Gabriel Chong