Esteemed director Ridley Scott offers up his latest attempted blockbuster, Exodus Gods And Kings this week. Huge budget and an opening that was nothing more than a financial whimper last weekend.
Christian Bale stars as Moses in the latest Hollywood trend of bringing their interpretation of Biblical stories to the screen. With IMAX screens and other various large format theaters with 3D, and incredible sound systems, it seems the time is right for these large movies to make a comeback. Now, if we could just get the good movie part right.
EG&K, is the story of Moses leading the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt about 400 BC. You may or may not know the story, and it's been done a few times before. This version has Bale, Joel Edgerton, John Tuturo, and for some reason Ben Kingsley, and Sigourney Weaver are in this. Each of the latter two having about 10 minutes of screen time in this two-hour twenty-two minute epic.
All the usual stuff happens in this as you might expect. Big sets, 100's of extras, elaborate costumes and props. A huge musical soundtrack, and monster special effects. My gut feeling is that the special computer effects are the main catalyst for the remaking many of these epics, and that's a shame. This movie has nothing really new to offer. It's long, it's drawn out, and being honest there is nothing really special about the big scenes or the effects. And maybe the one thing that really kills this, is there's just no suspense at all. Very pedestrian movie making.
It is an amazing skill to make a compelling movie while telling a story that people already know. Titanic comes to mind as a good one. Apollo13 too. Both made a known story suspenseful. There is none of that here. This movie just comes, and goes, and just looks expensive, all the while not really delivering a very interesting time at the movies.
Plus, without trying to sound like an activist, and understanding that animals can not be injured during movie making, this movie has a fascination with showing horrible things happen to animals. Albeit computer generated. Many will find this very disturbing as countless (CG) horses are harpooned, falling off cliffs, burned, drowned and involved in terrible battle scenes. Same with goats, and sheep. It was absolutely over done, and I knew the whole time many would be bothered by this. It is very fatiguing.
Bale is fine in this very large starring role, and the supporting cast is fine as well. But being honest you may be checking out after the first hour or so. The wonderful backdrops, the occasional stunning camera shots swelling with big music will wear off, and you will just be hoping for a more exciting movie.
Exodus Gods And Kings. Big dud!
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