Exodus: Gods and Kings

An untraditional presentation of God (the comparison God as a kid with a magnifying glass and people as ants lacks metaphor) and a story of Egyptian plagues. Scott works with modern themes and reflects the contemporary wherever he can. Sometimes this is to the benefit of the movie, sometimes to its harm. The problem is the restricted length (Sigourney appears almost as an extra) which eats away at the sophistication of the characters and the significance of some decisions. Exodus reminds me of the movie theater version of Kingdom of Heaven which, despite its quality workmanship, didn’t manage to say what it was all about and that wasn’t fixed until the director’s cut came out on Blue-Ray. The exteriors and the effects are well-polished and the Egyptian makeup soon didn’t matter anymore. At all stages of Moses, Bale was excellent, but his friendly atheist becomes a believer schizophrenic far too soon and in the second part the good guy turns into a bad guy, God knows why... and Rameses just won’t negotiate with terrorists. The viewer understands this in the light of contemporary events, doesn’t he? Doesn’t he? Missed opportunities certainly, a bad movie definitely not. Compared to Prince of Egypt, just a little superfluous. (12/27/2014)

It will sound empty or conceited, but I would really love for Exodus: Gods and Kings to have four or even five hours. For the brotherly bond, high intrigues, secondary characters played by famous faces, or the paranoia of the main hero to have enough space for the key scenes to hit with full force and shake me. As it is, most of the dialogues feel like filler where Christian Bale can shine, but will never have a chance to turn a spectacular show into a true epic. The views into the distant landscape, the ten plagues, or the final parting of the waves are therefore just episodes awaited as attractions. I can't help but mention that The Prince of Egypt was an animated film half the length and still said everything with greater complexity and comprehensibility all in one go. (08/07/2023)

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)

Ridley Scott did well in Gladiator, he caught a good period when people were hungry for swords and sandals and essentially started the resurrection of these films. It was a thematically simple and audience-friendly film. In Kingdom of Heaven, he turned it around and approached it from the end, which resulted in a box office flop, but now it is gaining glory and prestige with the passage of years. In other words, Balian's journey to self-realization and what he wants has matured like wine, just like Titanic, its timelessness is even more striking, and the film is of even higher quality. Exodus is a hybrid the two aforementioned pieces, but unfortunately, it is not very viewer-friendly because the classic story of self-realization is mixed with fantasy elements and religious themes. As long as it's a classic story with traditional values, everything is fine, except for the woeful PG13 rating. Scott knows how to handle panoramas and camera shots, and he always has. Unfortunately, as soon as the Bible comes into play, it becomes bad and starts to clatter. Go see it in the cinema because visually, it is good, and even without Hans Zimmer, it's okay. But as a whole, it is closest to Robin Hood – or less awkward at least. We'll see what the director’s cut will bring, and I hope it will be R-rated and at least 30 minutes longer. Maybe there will be the same boost in quality as in the case of Kingdom of Heaven. Even without the extended version, it is a film that will mature along with the viewer's life and film experiences. (01/03/2015)

Exodus is classic Ridley Scott, and after the disaster that was The Counselor, I needed this. It’s got the epic storyline, brutal battle scenes, and some absolutely stunning visuals—like the Ten Plagues—that are going to haunt me for a while. The score is solid, the performances are great, and honestly, the only thing that bothers me is knowing there’s a four-hour version out there. If Ridley had released that cut in theaters, everything might have made more sense. I went to the bathroom for like a minute during the movie, and when I came back, it felt like I missed a huge chunk of the story. You can tell they had to cut a lot to fit it into two and a half hours. Still, despite the pacing issues, I can't find much else to criticize. I don’t get the hate from some critics who call this one of Scott’s worst films. Sure, it’s not perfect, but nobody else could’ve made it this well. I think everyone should just watch it and decide for themselves. I know I’m satisfied. (01/04/2015)