Rating of
2.5/4
Exodus boasts too much logos and not enough pathos
Indyfreak - wrote on 05/04/15
Ridley Scott remains one of the best visual directors in the business but at this rate, he's at risk becoming the rich man's Michael Bay if he keeps on making good looking movies instead of films that are actually good. I actually liked Exodus: Gods and Kings better than I thought-especially after all the bad reviews-but the most shared criticism rings true here: It's comparatively hollow despite cranking up the spectacle and the histrionic acting. Everything's on autopilot and as wildly divergent as the script is from the traditiional story of Moses in the bible, it's surprisingly slow and sometimes even boring.
That much negativity being expressed already, I liked the action, the visuals, and thought the two lead performances from Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton were fine. Their sibling rivalry forms the crux of the narrative and like in previous adaptations, it's an interesting conflict.
I recall Ridley Scott stating in an interview that as an atheist, he's actually the best director for a movie like this because he has to believe in the story to make it work. I call bs on that since he goes out of his way to provide a plausible explanation for every plague that happens onscreen. Even the script cannot help itself but to appeal to reason over EVERYTHING instead of what bible epics ought to and that is pure emotionality. That's what made the human stories stand out from the spectacle in such gargantuan epics like Ben-Hur or the Heston-Brynner adaptation especially. You'd think Scott would love that as it goes with his bombastic visual style as it is. Oh well. It's entertaining enough as it is but given the cast and crew involved, this really could have become my generation's 'Gladiator'.
