| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Christian Bale | ... | ||
| Joel Edgerton | ... | ||
| John Turturro | ... | ||
| Aaron Paul | ... | ||
| Ben Mendelsohn | ... |
Viceroy Hegep
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| María Valverde | ... | ||
| Sigourney Weaver | ... | ||
| Ben Kingsley | ... | ||
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Isaac Andrews | ... | |
| Hiam Abbass | ... | ||
| Indira Varma | ... |
High Priestess
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| Ewen Bremner | ... |
Expert
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| Golshifteh Farahani | ... | ||
| Ghassan Massoud | ... |
Ramses' Grand Vizier
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| Tara Fitzgerald | ... | ||
Epic adventure Exodus: Gods and Kings is the story of one man's daring courage to take on the might of an empire. Using state of the art visual effects and 3D immersion, Scott brings new life to the story of the defiant leader Moses as he rises up against the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses, setting 600,000 slaves on a monumental journey of escape from Egypt and its terrifying cycle of deadly plagues. Written by 20th Century Fox
We all know Scott can bring a vision to the screen with ease, create a sweeping vista and bring a dream to life. In part he does that here; a version of ancient Egypt is brought to life, superficially it seems right, until you realise this is all this movie has going for it.
Its empty, like a chocolate cake with sawdust inside. I feel cheated, extremely disappointed, and unenlightened.
Apart from the incredibly distracting casting choices, we know ancient Egyptians were brown to dark brown, the costumes and setting just didn't ring true and continuously brought me out of the movie and into the increasingly monotonous script that lacked any originality, spark or wit.
Yes, this is straight by the numbers; even including a more 'scientific' approach to the story that I think was supposed to be clever or original, but just fell flat and drained even more life from the movie.
Performances I felt were very ordinary; Bale played his usual character role, serious faced throughout, as did Edgerton, although yet again and again I found distracting his manicured eyebrows and shaven head, clearly a poor attempt to look 'other', when his role should have clearly gone to another. The so called must have big names Scott whined of, such as Weaver, had hardly a word to say.
Its also overlong, or seems it. Large segments between set pieces drag on and on, you check your watch and instead of 30 minutes gone, you realise only 4 minutes have. This is nothing like gladiator. Scott has gotten old. Hes not going to get better.
Only watch if you like a biblical epic with no originality and dour presentation. Everyone else, save your cash and if you are tempted, don't bother with 3D.