Action Moses; Exodus: Gods and Kings.

You can watch my youtube review HERE!!!

The story of Moses is a well known story and has been told many times in many different ways, including animation; Cedil B. Demille himself adapted the story twice. The latest interpretation of the story comes from master filmmaker Ridley Scott and stars Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley, John Turturro, Sigourney Weaver, Aaron Paul and Ben Mendelsohn. Now this is a story that most people know so I won't give a synopsis and will get right into my review.

Exodus: Gods and Kings attempts to tell the story of two brothers; raised together but ultimately drawn apart by lineage and by faith. Ridley Scott is no stranger to sword and sandal epics with Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven (the director's cuts is a masterpiece) under his belt so a story like Moses' felt like a no-brainer. A even though Ridley Scott tackles the film with as much visual grandeur as expected Exodus plays it rather safe by being very by the numbers though it does bring up some rather interesting ideas that could have been explored further.

With a strong cast and technical expertise the film lives and dies with its screenplay and that is where we find its problems. No matter how grand a scope Ridley Scott paints the film with it all doesn't matter if the film doesn't have compelling characters or a compelling story. The script barely gives any depth to the characters and is more focused on getting from A to B without really getting into why. We don't really get to know the Israelites or their plight and though Moses is a reluctant leader he isn't are fully formed as the Moses from the bible. If anything we get to know more about Rhamses mindset though he is still written rather thinly.

With all book adaptations we must talk about the faithfulness to the source material; Exodus in no way deviates from the source to the extent that Darren Aronofsky's Noah did but that are several major changes that actually weaken the film. In the source we get to know the various Israelite characters with much more depth though Rhamses is even more thinly written; this weakens the the stakes of film and why we should be invested. Of course not all of these changes are negatives; the drama between Moses and Rhames is rather interesting but not nearly explored deep enough and Ridley Scott's depiction of the plagues via natural causes was also very interesting and you felt every fly, every frog and boil.

Unfortunately it is a rather dull affair for a epic film and contains rather disjointed pacing. But it does contain striking cinematography, a lovely score and strong performances from a cast who do their best with the little they are given. Ridley Scott handles the action well though the reasoning behind some of it is rather contrived but the film manages to be rather decent even with its thin script and tonal inconsistencies. A very well made film but an averagely thrilling experience that lacks the ambition that would have made it more worthwhile.

3 out of 5 stars.

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