EXODUS

As seen in

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Charleton Heston made some iconic movies back in the day; but probably his most notable (perhaps because I watched it every single year in elementary) was The Ten Commandments.  However, since nothing is sacred in Hollywood anymore (pun intended), and with the film approaching the 60^th anniversary, it only made sense that we were to see another take.  Luckily they were able to snag Ridley Scott (Gladiator) to helm this epic.  And while Heston he is not, the recently impressive Christian Bale steps into the sandals of the legendary hero, Moses in Exodus: Gods and Kings. This will be a very condensed look as the film’s runtime is 150 minutes. 

Ramses (Joel Edgerton) is the son of the Pharaoh and next in line for the throne, while Moses is his adopted brother.  As time goes by, the Pharaoh passes away and Ramses inherits the throne.  One day, Moses finds out about his true heritage as a Hebrew and in the process kills two Egyptian guards.  When Ramses finds out about this he exiles Moses from the city.  Nine years pass.  After an accident, he wakes up to a vision of a burning bush and a little boy named Malak (Isaac Andrews).  Malak acts as the Metatron (look it up) for God.  He tells Moses to go back to Egypt to free His people.  However, Ramses’ refusal and retaliation leads to war.  Malak speaks to Moses again, He tells him to fall back and watch as He releases the infamous ten plagues onto the city. Throughout the destruction, Moses’ shaky faith is tested repeatedly, though in the end the slaves are freed.  This leads to taking his people on an Exodus from Egypt to the Holy Land where they will be free forever.

We all can pretty much guess what happens from here; something about a Red Sea and words on some stone tablets.  However, if you are a fan of the best-selling book of all time (The Bible, for those unsure); you will notice some large veering from the written word and some incredibly executed yet arguable over-the-top CGI.  The story bears the same substance but seems to lack all the heart.  The timeline is very confusing and leaves you wondering why some parts where cut so short while others dragged on for too long. Bale’s unfortunately poor performance also suffers from drastic accent changes throughout the flick leaving the viewer wondering if he was supposed to have one in the first place.  Edgerton was rather amazing actually, but the remaining stardom that was the supporting cast were barely given screen time let alone lines to justify a salary.  Visually the product is there, but for the spectators it’s up to them whether they will be impressed or not.  Sorry Ridley, the “Passion” just wasn’t there.  Religious fanatics need not apply.