EXODUS GODS AND KINGS

I’m a big fan of the old style Hollywood epics. There’s something about the scale and ambition of them that I don’t think Hollywood has ever quite managed to capture again. Of these films my personal favourite is Cedric B DeMille's “The Ten Commandments”. It stands the test of time and still impresses with its score performances (it wasn’t all theatrical hamming back then) and effects. So you can imagine that going into Ridley Scott’s Exodus Gods and Kings I was more than a little apprehensive. I’d like to say that my fears were unfounded and that this film is a shining example of how to mix old style epic Hollywood with CIG wizardry ……....I’d like to say that but I can’t. The problems are more numerous than the flies of the fourth plague. Firstly the film doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be - we start with the a battle scene reminiscent of Gladiator which serves little-to-nothing plot wise and almost seems there to hoodwink the audience into thinking this will be action-packed. Unfortunately while it has the length of an old school Hollywood epic it has the pacing and storytelling of an episode of Coronation Street. Even God turning up (in the form of a, wait for it,… a child) can’t liven things up and you find yourself yearning for the mayhem of the plagues. Under such circumstances the cast do their best but the normally charismatic Christian Bale (Moses) seems unenthusiastic, a fact which he tries to cover by excessive shouting. Slightly more impressive is Ramesses (Joel Edgerton) who struggles against the script to find meaning in his character. Incidentally get your money on Edgerton to win the Oscar for “Best use of eyeliner”. Harsh though it may sound the rest of the cast is barley worth a mention (the presence of Sir Ben Kingsley is rapidly becoming a red flag for films). Even in areas where you found think it would be impossible to screw up Ridley Scott is impresses with his ingenuity. The Red Sea doesn’t so much as part as well ………evaporate (seriously it’s a case of ‘now you see it, now you don’t’). Why rob your audience of this visual spectacle when you intend (as they do) for the water to come rushing back in in all its CGI glory (one of the film’s more impressive scenes). Ultimately this is a film that does not know what it wants to be and is left floundering with the Egyptian army in the sea FINAL VERDICT 5/10 Read the book people

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