Review: EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS

EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS  (DRAMA/ACTION-ADVENTURE) 
2 out of 4 stars 
Directed by Ridley Scott
Starring: Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, John Turturro, Aaron Paul, Isaac Andrews, Ben Mendelsohn, Maria Valverde, Golshifteh Farahani, Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley, Andrew Tarbet
Rated PG-13 for violence including battle sequences and intense images.
150 minutes
Verdict: Despite some magnificent and exciting action set-pieces and a few intriguing ideas, Ridley Scott's rendering of the Old Testament's most epic tale is an epic without a heart, not to mention the problematic casting.
YOU MAY ENJOY EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS IF YOU LIKED:
NOAH  (2014)
GLADIATOR  (2000)
ROBIN HOOD (2010)
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS  (1956)
BEN-HUR  (1959)

The story of Moses as told in the Book of Exodus, from his rearing as an Egyptian prince, discovery of his heritage, fall from glory and return to the land of Egypt to lead his people, the Hebrews, out of slavery is one of the Bible's great stand-out narratives, let alone in all religious texts.  It's a classic and fantastic example of the "Hero's Journey," the man cast out from his home into the world, where he is called upon and reborn as something more than a man.  The story of Moses is one that's been told time and again, even if you don't realize it (THE LION KING and BATMAN BEGINS come to mind).  Of the major mainstream films to adapt the story in actuality, I believe EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS is only the fourth.  Two were done by Cecil B. DeMille, both titled THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, the first released in 1923, and the considerably better-known remake in 1959.  The last was DreamWorks Pictures' intended flagship animated feature film, THE PRINCE OF EGYPT (ANTZ was released little more than two months previously due to a feud with Disney and to give PRINCE OF EGYPT a stronger market standing), released in 1998.  I've never seen DeMille's 1923 film, but I don't think there's any question which, out of DeMille or DreamWorks, is the superior film.  It's THE PRINCE OF EGYPT by far.  I'm not kidding, but perhaps that's best saved for another day.
In the United States, we like to think of Moses as one of the great representatives of our values, even go to great lengths and indulgence of outrage to display the Ten Commandments on government property, when frankly, it would make a lot more sense to have those monuments on church properties, whether or not it's "Constitutional" to display on public property (I go to churches for those sorts of things anyway).  On the other hand, one of our beloved "Founding Fathers," Thomas Paine, best known for his 48-page pamphlet Common Sense, which is widely attributed with bearing strong responsibility to swaying public opinion in favor of declaring independence, also wrote that Moses was a "detestable villain" and guilty of "unexampled atrocities."  It's fair to say that even Moses is a figure widely open to interpretation.
And so we get to Sir Ridley Scott's take.  Scott is a very high-profile director with an eclectic filmography from bona fide classics like ALIEN, BLADE RUNNER and THELMA & LOUISE, to memorable but imperfect action-adventures like GLADIATOR, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN and PROMETHEUS, and to intermittently interesting but ultimately disappointing failures such as 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE and ROBIN HOOD (2010).  Very unfortunately, EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS belongs to that latter group.
The film opens in Ancient Egypt, 1300 B.C., when the nearly 400,000 Hebrew people are enslaved by the Egyptians, forced under the taskmaster's whip to build their massive cities and monuments.  Moses (Christian Bale) is a general in the Egyptian army, and an adopted son of the royal family, who leads the army alongside his brother and heir to Pharaoh's crown, Ramesses (Joel Edgerton).  When visiting the city of the slaves to assess their conditions, Moses the Hebrew elder Nun (Ben Kingsley), who informs him of his true lineage as a Hebrew; a revelation that Moses is neither happy to hear or believe.  Someone else overhears the conversation though, and informs Ramesses, who has Moses exiled to the desert.  Moses survives and comes through to the other side, starting a new life as a shepherd and married to a Midianite named Zipporah (Maria Valverde), with whom he has a son.  God has greater plans for Moses however, calling upon him to return to Egypt, and acting through him, in a war of attrition, win freedom for the Hebrews.

The casting of this film has been a point of controversy, and I'm inclined to agree with those disappointed that the major roles of these Middle Eastern characters were cast with white actors.  It's not that it's an all-white cast, because it absolutely isn't; Golshifteh Farahani, who plays Ramesses' wife, is Iranian, Kevork Malikyan, as Jethro, is Armenian, and Kingsley, born British, is from a mixed heritage of Indian and Middle Eastern regions; to name a few.  But the big roles to seem to be dominated by vanilla.  Scott's excuse is that in order to make a film of this size (size $140 million) in Hollywood, the studios demand crowd-drawing names.  Bale, yeah, I can see that.  Aaron Paul (who plays Moses' protege Joshua), umm...maybe?  Edgerton?  Edgerton, while a fine actor, is hardly a household name.  They aren't bad in their roles, but it's definitely a stumbling block (Yul Brynner was less white than Joel Edgerton) when settling into what's supposed to be Ancient Egypt.  Bale's performance doesn't disappoint though, with a "touched" aspect following his encounter with God.  Racially appropriate or not, the really big miscasting in the movie is Scottish actor Ewen Bremner as a scholar in Pharoah's court, who has the unfortunate responsibility of delivering clumsy exposition to explain the natural causes of the plagues (calm down fundamentalists, does a miracle really not count if God creates it using natural causes?).  It's not just that his character's purpose is lousy, but Bremner works great when you want him to make things funny and/or quirky, and in most other things, as in this, he feels wildly out of place, even for his minor role.
Unfortunately, Scott's execution of the story, while not as shallow as the cheesy, bloated whale that is THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, lacks a strong sense of pathos or any heart beating at the center of it.  It hits the goal posts of the story, and what Scott seems most interested in is seeing Ancient Egypt and the plagues visually realized with creative explanations.  At the very least, he's good at that, and the movie has some spectacular action and stunning visuals.  The story of Moses is not merely spectacle, and certainly not intellectual though, so it ultimately feels for naught without an emotional core.