Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014), PG-13, ★1/2

Christian Bale as Moses, really?

Uh, remember, The Ten Commandments by director Cecil B. DeMille from 1956. People say it is a classic or a biblical epic masterpiece. It has some flashes of brilliance, especially the parting of the Red Sea sequence, the epic scope of the film and the well-executed sequences with Moses' transition from an Egyptian to a Hebrew. But, in my opinion, it is a very good movie, not a great movie because two things that bothered me a little bit: 1) The over-dramatic acting from some unknown actor who chewed it up saying their lines that the director to fill it in as fluff and I just rolled my eyes and 2) a few of the scenes with the narration drags on a little too long that fills in the almost 4-hour film. However, again, it is still a very good movie with great performances by Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner.

We had a lot of films about Moses with Ben Kingsley, Dougray Scott, and an animated movie called The Prince of Egypt, which is another very good movie. But, this new portrayal of Moses' story takes the film too seriously and does not boost up any joyful energy.

Well, you all know the story. But, if you forgot, here it is. In 1300 B.C., the Hebrews have been slaves to the Egyptians for 400 years. However, this movie does start with the Hebrew babies getting killed and Moses and his family escaping from the awful event and Moses' basket floating onto the end of an Egyptian house where they encounter him. Nope. We go right to the scenes of combat where Moses (Christian Bale) and his adoptive brother, Ramses (Joel Edgerton) go to war with the Hittites and Seti, the Pharaoh (John Turturro) sends them off as they both ride their chariots into battle. Moses and Ramses barely make it out of the battle, but they defeat the Hittites.

Moses meets with Viceroy Hegep (Ben Mendelsohn) who watches the slaves at work and Moses sees Joshua (Aaron Paul) whipped and gives Moses nightmares. Moses meets a tribe of Hebrews led by Joshua's father Nun (Ben Kingsley) and reveals that he is a Hebrew and that he was discovered as a baby in Egypt. A few Hebrews tell Hegep and as Seti dies (you knew he was going to die anyway (so, not really a spoiler alert), Ramses becomes Pharaoh and knows that Moses is Hebrew.

Basically, the rest of the story is that Ramses sets Moses off into the desert and he meets Jethro and Zipporah (Sarah Valverde) and they get married. Moses sees a burning bush which turns into a Hollywood-ized version and made me chuckle a little bit. And, then, Moses returns and says "Let my people go!" in a very stiff and different way to Ramses and says the plagues are coming, etc, etc...again, you know the tale. Ridley Scott is basically putting a different spin on the story.

Joel Edgerton as Ramses.

I was vastly disappointed by this version of the story and I am a little angry as I am writing this down because mostly I am angry at Ridley Scott, the director of the movie. I'll give him props for the production design, who helps with the details and is a master at it, the look and the special effects, especially the plague sequence, which is the only great scene of the film. However, I think 20th Century Fox offered him such a big paycheck that they just let Scott and the writers change the whole outcome and tone of the story. It is almost entirely different in story, tone, organization and pacing that it does not work. No wonder they had 4 writers on the payroll because it does not know what version Moses' story wants to be.

Christian Bale is a very good and methodical actor but he is too stiff and serious to portray Moses. I thought Heston did an excellent job because he had a range of emotions showing power, vulnerability, leadership and in some scenes, seduction. Edgerton, however, has the presence of Ramses but he is drowned in too much makeup and looks uncomfortable. What is Sigourney Weaver and Ben Kingsley doing in this movie? Well, the former is just sitting in a chair being evil and quiet and the latter well, he was Moses in another movie, so, I don't know. Turturro, Mendelssohn and Aaron Paul have some fun in their scenes.

Almost all of the scenes have no enjoyment, no entertaining factor, no energy, just tonal seriousness and dialogue that is expressed like it was another Batman movie. They should have pumped up the energy and the campiness to make the film fun and exciting along with the special effects. It is like Gladiator, Noah, Kingdom of Heaven, and a bit of The Ten Commandments in one. This movie feels lost in what the story wants it to be. Plus, the Red Sea sequence is not too great and the ending is vacuous. This film is incredibly disappointing because Ridley Scott is a masterful director who knows how to craft these epic stories real well. This year's generation of viewers will be angry and left with questions in the end.

*1/2