Bible Tales

Exodus: Gods and Kings

Over the past 100 years or so of film history there have been many things that have inspired filmmakers. One subject that has been a constant inspiration has been the Bible. No matter what your religion is, there are many stories within the Bible that have been breathtaking to see on the big screen. In 1956 one of the most successful Biblical films, The Ten Commandments, graced the screen for the first time. In 2004 Mel Gibson gave audiences a very brutal view of Jesus’ last twelve hours and then this year Darren Aronofsky directed a more ‘realistic’ interpretation of the story of Noah. On the heels of Aronofsky’s biblical film, Ridley Scott takes his shot at the Bible. Starring Christian Bale (The Dark Knight) and Joel Edgerton (Zero Dark Thirty), 20^th Century Fox presents Exodus: Gods and Kings.

An orphaned Moses (Bale) has been raised within the Egyptian royal palace in Memphis. Brought up with Ramesses II (Edgerton), the two princes have become great warriors in King Seti I’s (John Turturro O Brother, Where Art Thou?) army. After finally defeating the Hittite army, sadly Seti dies and Ramesses succeeds him as the King of Egypt. Believing that some of his royal responsibilities are below him, Ramesses asks his advisor, Moses, to visit Pithom and report on the goings on. While visiting Pithom, Moses speaks with one of the enslaved Hebrew elders who informs him of his Hebrew heritage and asks Moses for help. Frustrated and bewildered by the elder’s claim, Moses returns to Memphis only to have his secret follow him. Confronted by Ramesses, Moses embraces his parentage and is out-casted from Egypt. However after many years and building a family, Moses is called back to Egypt by God to help free the Hebrew slaves from Egypt. Moses must put his faith in God and guide his people to Canaan.

I would just like to start of saying that I love Ridley Scott and his abilities as a film director. Though like most people, Mr. Scott has his off days or ‘off’ movies. Exodus, unfortunately, is one of his off movies. The film is filled with unenthusiastic performances (one that is a waste) and is plagued (see what I did there?) with an identity crisis. Exodus tries to give a fresh spin on a millennia old story by mixing the story with elements of Kingdom of Heaven. Exodus gives audiences grand battle scenes and exotic locations, as almost a way of distracting the audience from the plot. The film also glosses over aspects of the Exodus story that were important and spent too much time on aspects that were not.

Christian Bale never really seems committed to his role as Moses. Of course this also could be a result of how short and to the point his dialogue is. However when Bale does converse with the other characters, his Moses comes across arrogant. Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought that the Egyptians were supposed to be the pompous characters of this tale. So because Moses is arrogant at times, Edgerton’s Ramesses almost gets perceived as a victim. Edgerton gives the audience a conceited and unprepared-to-rule Ramesses, but at times I felt sorry for him. The wasted performance that I mentioned above is that of Joshua played by the incredible Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad). I admire Paul and all of his recent work and so I was excited to hear of his involvement with this project. To my utter disappointment, Paul is basically there to take up space in a scene. Paul has a few lines, but mostly Paul is seen with a dumbfounded look on his face…THAT’S IT. Such a waste.

Gladiator director Ridley Scott takes another shot at a sand-sandal film. With the huge critical and box-office success of Gladiator, I could see why Scott would want to take on a film like this. The problem is that the Scott never defines what kind of film this was going to be. The film tries to ‘explain’ the plagues scientifically, but also includes the divine aspect. Scott also has trouble with the pacing of Exodus. The first half of the film takes too long to develop that by the time the film gets to the plagues, the film speeds up and skims over the ‘unexplainable’ parts of the Exodus story.

If Exodus would have stayed true to its Biblical roots than I think that this film would be great to see. The visual effects and costume design was amazing, but the plot didn’t hold up its end of the film. Bale is a much better actor than this and Paul was just poorly placed in this film. Scott needs to get back on his game because when he is on his game, we are graced with gems like Alien and Black Hawk Down.

The Verdict: Not Worth Your Time