MOVIES: Exodus: Gods and Kings – An epic bore – Review

I’ve seen hundreds of films in my life and have walked out of only three: Secretariat, The Sweetest Thing and now Exodus: Gods and Kings, Ridley Scott’s massively disappointing faux epic which epitomizes Hollywood’s obsession with spectacle over substance. Exodus is horribly bad and completely absent any artistic redemption. Scott and everyone involved should be embarrassed to be associated with such a transparent grab for money which reeks of excessive studio meddling.

The Biblical tale of Moses rescuing the Hebrews from the chokehold of Ramses and leading them out of Egypt is a wonderful story which, when told properly, is quite engaging. Scott, though, has completely drained any sense of wonder from something that has inspired millions of people for thousands of years. Exodus is boring and without an iota of human feeling. We don’t care about Moses (Christian Bale), his people or his battle against his adopted brother Ramses (Joel Edgerton). In fact, it’s the performances by the two leads which help make the movie so unwatchable. Bale is being wasted in a role which is written with no more motivation than the minimum needed to move the story along. Edgerton looks lost in every scene as if he’s not sure what character he is playing or how badly he should chew the scenery to hide his confusion.

Aside from the whitewashing of the roles to make them more palatable to American audiences (a tool which apparently will never end) and the brownface most actors must endure, Scott and his cadre of screenwriters (four!) take what is unquestionably a story of faith and give it a secularized bastardization to appeal to mass audiences. The miracles of the Old Testament are explained away through acts of nature which could be seen as devoid of divine intervention. Why make a movie based on a religious story if you’re going to dismiss the religious basis?

Exodus: Gods and Kings is stupid, meandering and insulting to the intelligence of moviegoers. It doesn’t deserve to exist nor does it deserve a serious discussion of its cinematic merits because it has none. So, I will cut this review off here and go watch ANY OTHER movie to cleanse my mind.

Grade: F