In the beginning there was Genesis..... until Phil Collins left for a solo career. Then after Genesis comes Exodus. The story of 400 years of slavery and suffering (like how your Dad always leaves Genesis Greatest Hits in the car CD player) until finally a hard fought freedom was achieved (when the CD finally scratched). A classic biblical tale (that’s almost as painful as Phil Collins singing) now returns to our cinema screens with Exodus: Gods and Kings and Moses can feel it calling in the air tonight.
While growing up as an adopted son of Pharaoh Seti I, Moses (Christian Bale – The Dark Knight, American Hustle) enjoyed a life of wealth and comfort and as a best friend to the Pharaoh’s true son Ramesses (Joel Edgerton – Warrior, The Great Gatsby). Until a shocking discovery of his Hebrew slave birth sets him on a path that will defy all Egyptian gods and kings to see his true people set free.
Despite a lengthy 2 and half hour reign, very quickly and without so much as 1.21 gigawatts, a great Scott emerges. An early mass battle sequence pitting the chariot charging Egyptians against a Hittite threat reminds us that Ridley Scott is well versed in historical epics with Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven beneath the folds of his robes and packs more than a little divine grace up his sleeves. It’s a fantastic foray marrying the distant full army shots with close and gritty blow for blow combat in frequent fast cut succession capturing the sword swinging and spear flinging chaos. His rendering of the pyramid loving empire’s scale extends beyond the battlefield as locations like royal city of Memphis, the river Nile and slave city of Pithom are presented with stunning levels of detail. Although the majority are CG delivered, to their credit even in wide scale establish shots they never feel anything but real. Memphis in particular urges a superb sense of fascination so much of it appears under varying stages of construction. The key message appears to realism which is demonstrated best in the extensive 10 plagues section (there were 10 plagues & 10 commandments, therefore God supports the metric system). While they have clear signs of holy influence there’s sense of presenting them some degree of natural explanations. The Nile turns red with blood thanks to a mass crocodile attack (as usual bonus points for bad guys being eaten by crocodiles) as the beasts even massacre themselves to get the job done. The subsequent plagues even have a logical progression the blood river causes a mass frog exodus before they die bringing torrents of lice and flies and from those pests come boils and diseases. Though it may have some devout Christians going all North Korea on the artistic license here, this is an excellent modernisation on a classic story.
The choice of director continues to be a bigger influence on proceedings than the big man/men/animal head people upstairs as Exodus becomes a much more character emotion focused story than an event based drama. The emphasis is less on the well trodden events of the story (even Rugrats did an Exodus episode) but examining how real imperfect people would react to them. This is brilliantly represented in frequent conversations between Moses and a messenger of God depicted as a child. Using a physically inferior vessel to Moses takes away the intimation and allows him to plausibly argue his opinion rather than just going all Wayne’s World on the little big guy. In fact the pair frequently have utter distain for each other and even disgust as Moses does not wish the mass suffering and death upon what used to be his Egyptian people that comes to pass. Yet just as Christian Bale can’t distance himself from Terminator Salvation, he must accept his role in God’s plan even if that means delivering something awful. It’s both and fascinating to see God portrayed as the unreasonable and even impatient party. This crucially keeps the story from feeling one sided as we can never escape feeling some degree of apathy for Ramesses and his people. None more so when the morning dawns on a kingdom of second sons with the death toll clear and present in palace and peasant home alike. As the ending and a parting of waves beckon, Exodus does sadly slip into more conventional biblical territory. Well not necessarily bad it’s just a shame the underlying themes are abandoned as Moses starts feeling the spirit and Ramesses sinks into a more archetypal villain after occupying much more complex and fulfilling characters for the last 2 hours.
Indeed, Exodus does not escape Scott free of criticism. Its biggest plague is time and pacing. While some stagnated areas of the story work well for character development others do feel like the slaves are dragging them uphill. Even the climactic political u-turn over the recent anti-slavery bill is far too drawn out. Yes, making both have a long journey before reaching other ties in with realism favoring themes but that doesn’t mean we need to see so much of it. Several secenes and even small sections feel like padding in the sarcophagus rather than the main body. Exodus is also very sinful in not counting its casting blessings. Many big names seem only there for dropping. Sigourney Weaver (Ghostbusters, Avatar) features for mere minutes, most of them skulking in the background. Ben Kingsley (Ghandi, Iron Man 3) may have some form of Egyptian curse as for as with Night at Museum: Secret of the Tomb he barely gets the chance to show any of his range. Even the pop culture a-list likes of Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad, Need For Speed) spends most the film unrecognisable and largely forgettable behind a beard without so much as a “yeah, creationism bitch!”. Properly embracing these mortal faces could have added a much more godlike appeal to this adventure.
As for the featured cast Christian Bale holds things down exceptionally at the centre revealing in the internal conflict of his character. His accent feels oddly reminiscent of The Prestige but he is none the less convincing as the general come reluctant prophet. Edgerton also acquits himself keenly has he takes the throne only for the living god complex to set in. Yet his biggest contribution complimenting moments of power with those of vulnerability to keep the story balanced so well. Finally there’s a great supporting turn from John Turtorro (Transformers, Gods Pocket). It’s a surprising place to find the man best known for being the only person more eccentric than Shia LeBeouf while big robots stomp about but he actually adds an effective edge of humour to his early scenes.
So like last year’s Noah, Exodus may face 10 bibler’s bashing this Christmas for daring to differ but just like that Russell Crowe show, you’ll be glad they did. It isn’t quite the historical epic some would like to be on the scale of Gladiator but it is none the less a brilliant reminder of why the likes of Ridley Scott will always be forgiven for the odd sinful outing (Prometheus we’re looking at you) because our faith will always be rewarded with better films like Exodus.
Recommended for fans of character focused drama and historical epics, Ridley Scott fans looking to see the beard back on form and anyone so fed up of their horoscope being wrong that they’re open to the idea of ritual sacrifice.
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