Exodus: Gods and Kings

A two-and-a-half-hour biblical recitation that will surely appeal to the religiously initiated, but fans of complex filmmaking and especially of Ridley Scott will not find a single moment that they would later recite with relish to their atheist friends. Visually, it’s on a high level, which is par for the course with Scott, but with zero narrative drive or a more detailed elaboration of the motivations of the main characters that would have given their relationship and development a much stronger (or rather at least some) emotional insight. In terms of craftsmanship, everything is sort of OK and it's still much better to look at than most of the wannabe cool CGI fantasy crap, but considering the ambition and depth of the story, Exodus is a film surprisingly devoid of soul and creative personality... 60% (09/10/2015)

A Biblical epic about Moses, in which there is no need to analyze the characters and their relationships, because we all know them well. We should be satisfied with the beautiful epic concept with breathtaking exteriors and nice costumes, and the spectacular depiction of legendary disasters and crossing the ocean should be enough to turn the film into a blockbuster hit. Except that we’re not satisfied and it’s not enough. I am an atheist and biblical events alone are not enough for me. These were supposed to work as the bases for a thorough depiction of the motivation of the characters and the difficulties of the fundamental historical stage of humanity and its political and ethnic problems. Exodus either lacks all of that or gets it over with as quickly as possible. It is a super serious work that is less entertaining than the silly Dracula Untold. (12/28/2014)

At first, I thought Scott was going to do the bidding of the Jewish lobby, which has long since failed to let the viewing public be moved by its bitter fate through a narrative sandal. Yet he goes about it in a surprisingly rational way, and so while the pragmatic appreciation of the seven plagues of Egypt by Pharaoh's croaker is still laughable, Moshe's revolution, in which he is on the edge of personal madness, is no longer feigned, and the unorthodox vision is definitely clamped at the bottom of the Red Sea, with even the slight shortcoming (the not-quite-functional portrayal of the bond between the "brothers," which is fortunately saved by both characters; and 20 minutes more would have helped) receding and both ordinary viewers and the those familiar with the literary work will be satisfied. (07/20/2015)

The retelling of a biblical story zillion times... this time reinterpreted by Ridley Scott. Well, if I didn’t know that Joel Edgerton is such an extremely flexible actor (those different masks, work with his body, accent), I'd say it all hinges on Bale. But Edgerton is the real hero of Exodus: Gods and Kings. Overall I'm not thrilled, but I guess it's good not to forget about some of the Hollywood classics. However, I consider The Prince of Egypt cartoon to be the best of all the treatments. (08/24/2019)

Trying to film a biblical story in order to have at least a little idea for a logical explanation is nonsense, which Ridley also realized in the end. What he didn't understand is the fact that there is a much better portrayal that has been around for decades and he won't even come close to it. Yes, this is more palatable for a modern audience, but the story is good on its own, and this shift to the action level won't help it in any way. (04/06/2015)