Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) (English Language)

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150min

Cast: Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Aaron Paul …and more

Writers: Adam Cooper, Bill Collage, Steven Zaillian … and more

Legendary director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Alien) brings to the big screen his version of the Biblical story of Moses’ odyssey from Egyptian nobleman to outcast to the liberator of Hebrew slaves from the vice-like grip of Pharaoh Ramses, all with a little help from a vengeful higher power of course.

There will always be many pitfalls in adapting a Biblical story for the big screen and particularly one which has been done memorably in the past, you’re dealing with thousands of years of pre-conceived ideas of what they should look and feel like and how much parable and allegory to include, some of the criticism of Scott’s attempt smells of this as well as some personal critique of his movie-making trajectory over the last decade or so.

Make no mistake this film is not overly profound and is not much beyond a gritty pragmatic telling of the beginning of the Exodus story, there are some allegorical elements throughout but they seem like a storytelling responsibility and ultimately there is not much relatable personal human drama, it is however perhaps unrealistic to expect that from a film of this scale and of a story so warped by belief and time.

Exodus: Gods & Kings is as it should be an epic tale, visually stunning and with appropriately grand landscapes and action set-pieces, Moses himself (Christian Bale) is depicted as more a military tactician and leader than a scholar and nobleman so expect something closer to Russell Crowe in ‘Gladiator’ than Charlton Heston in ‘The Ten Commandments’.

The CGI serves the story well in the form of the “wrath of God Plagues” and the mechanism through which Moses talks to God is appropriate for modern times, a deep voice coming from a light in the sky just ain’t gonna cut it nowadays.

Certainly not a classic but a gripping and entertaining enough spectacle befitting of the modern cinematic age, ‘Exodus: Gods & Kings’ is no ‘Gladiator’ but then again perhaps expecting any ancient-world action epic to live up to that is unfair and with a Biblical tale wholly unrealistic.