Exodus: Gods and Kings

Plot synopsis:
Ancient Egypt 1,300 B.C.The Hebrews have been slaves to Egypt for over 400 years. They have shaped and built the city under the rule of a series of Pharaohs. They have not forgotten their homeland or their one God, and 'He' has not forgotten them.In the Pharaoh's temple in the holy city of Memphis, Moses (Christian Bale) and his adoptive brother Ramses (Joel Edgerton) learn that the Hittite army is near the city. The Pharaoh Seti (John Turturro) hears from the High Priestess (Indira Varma) of a prophecy that states that one will become a leader. Together, the two brothers ride their chariots into battle. With their own army, they confront the Hittites and take them down. Ramses is nearly killed when his chariot breaks down and he is nearly trampled, but Moses hurls a spear that breaks the Hittite chariot. Seti later thanks Moses for saving Ramses.Moses is sent to meet with Viceroy Hegep (Ben Mendelsohn), who oversees the slaves in the city. While they are walking, Moses sees one slave, Joshua (Aaron Paul), being whipped. This image horrifies him.Moses also meets a tribe of Hebrews led by Joshua's father Nun (Ben Kingsley). Here, Moses learns that he is also a Hebrew and was sent to Egypt as a baby. Moses is upset by this revelation. Two Hebrews hear the story and report it to Hegep.Some time later, Seti dies and Ramses is made the new Pharaoh. He learns of Moses' lineage from Hegep. A servant named Miriam (Tara Fitzgerald) is brought before him for interrogation at the behest of Queen Tuya (Sigourney Weaver). Ramses questions if she is Moses' sister. He nearly cuts off her arm until Moses intervenes and says she is his sister. Tuya wants Moses to be executed, but Ramses sends him into exile. Before leaving, Moses meets Miriam and their birth mother, who tell him his birth name is Moishe.Moses travels through the desert and comes across Midian and settles there. He meets Jethro (Kevork Malikyan) and his daughter Zipporah (Maria Valverde). Over time, Moses becomes a shepherd and comes to know Zipporah and they eventually fall in love and marry.Nine years later, Ramses continues to rule over Egypt with power. He has married Nefertari (Golshifeth Farahani) and has an infant son. Moses has also stayed in Midian and had a son with Zipporah named Gershom (Hal Hewetson). Moses has not shared the same faith in God that his wife and child had, which upsets Zipporah.Moses takes a trip up a mountain during a storm. A rock slide occurs in which he gets knocked unconscious and has his leg broken. He awakens nearly completely submerged in mud. He hears a voice and sees a burning bush. A child named Malak (Isaac Andrews) comes before him. He is a representation of God sent to speak with Moses. The boy takes some stones and stacks them together to form a pyramid to remind Moses of what he must do and who his people are.Moses returns to the village and has his leg treated. He tells Zipporah what he saw and what he heard. She doesn't believe that God would have come to him as a child. Moses knows he has a task to do, but Zipporah doesn't want him to leave his family behind.Moses returns to Egypt and reunites with Nun and Joshua. He also meets his brother Aaron (Andrew Tarbet) for the first time, along with Aaron's own son. Moses returns to the temple and confronts Ramses with a sword to the neck. Ramses is shocked to see Moses still alive. Moses tells Ramses of his mission from God. Afterwards, Ramses decides he wants Moses dead, and so he hunts down the Hebrews in the city and begins to publicly execute them until Moses turns himself in.Moses gathers the Hebrews and trains them in combat against Ramses' forces. Together with the tribesmen, they learn how to utilize bows and arrows as well as defenses against the Egyptians. Meanwhile, Moses continues to communicate with Malak, who warns him of something to come.The chaos begins when a group of crocodiles attacks a boat of fishermen. The beasts rip them apart (as well as each other), leaving the sea red with blood. The Ten Plagues then hit Egypt, beginning with all the water in the city turning to blood, with dead sea creatures surfacing. From the water come hundreds and hundreds of frogs all over the city. This is followed by a massive swarm of lice going all across the land. The Egyptians, including Ramses and his family, get rashes and boils on their skin. Ramses consults his grand vizier and the High Priestess for help, but when they provide him with no results, he has them executed.Moses confronts Ramses again about releasing the Hebrews. Ramses argues that there is no reason to change this after 400 years, as it would also be bad for Egypt economically as the country relies heavily on slave labor. Thus, the plagues continue with pestilence overtaking the livestock. They cough up blood before dying all over the place. Then a huge swarm of locusts overtakes the city, destroying much of the crops. A powerful hail storm follows, also causing much destruction in the city.Joshua comes across Moses talking to Malak, though Joshua cannot see the boy. Moses is horrified to learn of what the final plague is to be. He tells the Hebrews to slaughter a lamb and cover their doors with blood. That night, a darkness sweeps over the city. The first born child in each Egyptian home that is not marked with blood dies, including the son of Ramses. He finds his dead child and wails. After this, Ramses angrily tells Moses to leave with the Hebrews for Canaan.Moses leads the Hebrews into their exodus from the city. They walk for days until coming across the Red Sea. Fearing they have no way of going further, a frustrated Moses throws his sword into the ocean. Later, the waters begin to recede, allowing the people to go through. One Hebrew objects to Moses' leadership, but Moses convinces everyone to continue following him as he vows to take them home. They begin to walk through the sea.Back in Egypt, Ramses is still mourning the loss of his son. He decides to go after the Hebrews. His men ride through the mountains without stopping to rest the men or horses. On their journey, a large portion of Ramses' soldiers are killed when the mountains break down and take the soldiers down with it. The surviving Egyptians catch up to the Hebrews, who are almost through the Red Sea. The waters then begin to reform, forcing everyone to run for it. Moses rides toward Ramses, while Joshua, Aaron, and others follow him. As the waters get higher and closer, Moses orders the Hebrews to run back to land, while most of Ramses' soldiers retreat, even as Ramses continues riding toward Moses. The waves then crash down, killing Ramses' men before hitting both Moses and Ramses. Moses survives and rejoins the Hebrews, while Ramses also survives but is left alone amongst his dead soldiers, all of whom are being feasted on by the birds.Moses leads the Hebrews through Midian so that he may reunite with Zipporah and Gershom. Moses tells her that her faith should be stronger than ever now. They embrace and kiss.Later on, Moses is carving out the Ten Commandments onto a slab of stone. He talks to Malak again, who tells him that if he truly believes in what he's writing, that he ought to continue.The Hebrews make their way through Mount Sinai. A significantly older Moses rides with the Ten Commandments close to him. He looks out and sees Malak amongst the crowd before he seems to disappear. The Hebrews then continue making their way to the promised land.

Tags: comedy, cruelty, murder, violence, psychedelic, revenge

Review:
Although this is a classic, biblical story that most movie-goers are likely already familiar with, the film-makers have decided to pad this ancient tale with over-the-top action scenes, as well as one-note characters that feel more like cardboard cut-outs as opposed to actual human beings.
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.
A fake epic devoid of any real emotions and soul.Wish Mr. Scott has the courage someone like Mel Gibson had when he made this movie.
Famed British director Ridley  Scott, the visionary master behind such classics as Alien, Blade Runner  and Gladiator has found himself in one of these creative dead zones,  but the most telling thing about his time in this lowly state is that  his been there for the better part of a decade and after witnessing his  new cashed up epic Exodus, it seems he is destined to remain there for  the foreseeable future.
While the wonders of the on screen production will  consistently make you look twice, there seems like such little point to  an exercise like this when all is surrounded by a script that never  allows us in, alongside Scott directing proceedings like a man that  wants to show off but not engage, direction more concerned with how to  spectacularly kill of horses than making the characters and story come  to life.
All eyeliner and grizzled looks, Edgerton fails  to convince in his role and it feels from the get go that sadly he  may've been miscast much like John Turturoo's Seti, Aaron Paul's Joshua  and Ben Kinglsey's Nun, even the usually scene stealing Ben Mendelsohn  as Hegep fails to make much of a mark which leaves the film but a few  genuine moments of memorability, that being all largely related to the  onset of the plagues.
Scott sure knows how to  conduct his production department and his sweeping camera sure can  capture some outstanding action but the one time storyteller has lost  sight of how to portray his characters, how to play out a story and  Exodus looks set to become another Scott failure that looks likely to  underwhelm audiences as well as Box Office's the world over.
This year, yet another attempt is made by director Ridley Scott with big star Christian Bale as Moses, a combination is too promising to ignore.
So despite the lukewarm to negative early reviews, I wanted to see and judge this film for myself.We all know the story of Moses from the book of Exodus.
Moses led the Hebrews across the Red Sea and into the Promised Land of milk and honey.This film is basically faithful with the biblical story, with the advantage of higher technology in special visual effects to create grander vistas and more realistic plagues.
Moses did not have a staff that turned into a snake nor part the Red Sea. The Angel of Death scenes were presented curiously just like the way it was done on "The Ten Commandments"!The lackluster portrayal by the actors added to the coldness of the film.
Exodus is yet another big budget Hollywood movie, the other being Noah, to be based on a biblical story.
Being a Ridley Scott film, you can surely expect a visual spectacle, and this movie certainly had many.
It's not any one thing especially that is particularly so wrong with Exodus: Gods and Kings, but an overall gloom and doom that befalls the film, the deadly serious tone, that keeps it from reaching to a higher plain of epic-filmmaking existence.
Scott is just there to shoot a lot of this much the way he did Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven and Robin Hood - in other words, substitute out the pyramids with colisseums, or castles, or other things, and you'd have similar hyper-kinetic action (sometimes but not always too fast) and actors who are well-trained and versed and there to do the work, but not much more.Actually, those other films, even Robin Hood, would be preferable to sit through again than Exodus.
People in the cast like Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton, as Moses and Ramses respectively, are giving it their all - or as much as the script is asking them too, which is pretty similar relatively scene to scene (Ramses rarely is anything other than a "God"-type d***head).
For all of the intensity of the two main actors, and the tremendous special effects, it's practically wasted on a story that is 90 minutes shorter than DeMille's 1956 Ten Commandments, feels long and sluggishly paced - this despite the fact that certain other characters who could add some human dimension (like Moses' wife) are underdeveloped and under-utilized.
I'm giving it a 10 for the courage of its makers to deviate from the biblical narration, although it could have been an even looser interpretation of the Exodus story, since it never happened in reality anyway.I'm amazed and amused at the same time by the many negative reviews given by angry religious people who are mad at the film makers for not sticking to the "historical facts".
These people read a story that for centuries was orally passed from generation to generation, until it one day, some 2,500 years ago, i.e. many centuries after the supposed events, got written down, and they call it "historical facts"?!If this story happened the way the Bible tells it, then biblical literalists really are worshiping a sadistic tyrant, who kills innocent people and even children.
In the 1970s archaeologists gave up searching for evidences.So, why should a film about the Exodus stick to the "facts" when this story is not based on facts?If religious people want historical facts, how about this one: according to the Jewish Encyclopedia, fact is that the Hebrews were polytheists.
As nobody has firsthand experience from a story told over 4000+ years ago there is no possible way to actually make a movie based on the life of Moses and those around him, historically accurate.
This is why so many poor reviews have made it to the light of day because so many people out there take the story of Moses (from The Bible) to be a factually accurate account of his time on Earth.Anyway, I digress.
While this made many hard nose bible thumping Christians raise their arms in disgust, this Christian applauds the effort and yearns for more.Christian Bale does a fine job as Moses and really shows he still has it and will likely end up with the greats such as Jack Nicholson, Clint Eastwood and Robert De Niro who have stood the test of time and, in many instances, gotten better with age.
I loved him in Warrior and he does a great job here, as well.Unlikely TV personality turned silver screener Aaron Paul shows that he can actually do something outside of Jessie from Breaking Bad and was much better than I expected, albeit not perfect.John Turturro, Ben Kingsley & Siqourney Weaver also have roles and each do a fantastic job with the material they were given.
Sadly Ms. Weaver did not get near enough screen time and I sincerely hope there are many deleted scenes on the DVD/Blu-Ray that involve her.In conclusion, Exodus: Gods and Kings is a great movie with a good story, great actors and superb direction.
He plays God's messenger (or is it God in person?) who is depicted as malevolent, mysterious, mischievous boy, who gives answers in a very ambiguous way.From the start it seems like Ridley Scott will bring a usual standard historical fare but when The Plagues kick in you can bet you will get yours money's worth.
I never thought that i will b making my debut here on IMDb for writing a review for worst movie i ever watched from the hands of ridley scott.
Please Hollywood, i love all your movies, but don't fool viewers just through visual effects , bring some good stories also.In the end, all i will say is "watch it at your own risk".
It is a movie, not some sort of brain add-on that will make you a better person or symbolically pat you on the back for being so accurate, either left or right, in your politics.Chris Bale is good as Moses.
Ridley Scott Brilliantly paces the movie with great story telling and bringing out some great performances from the whole cast especially Christian Bale.
It's sad enough that this exclusion happens with your typical Drama or Action flick but it is EXTREMELY sad when this happens in a film set in ancient Africa.There has been so much evidence that has come out of Egypt that supports the fact that the people of ancient Egypt were indeed black but unfortunately people like Ridley Scott didn't get the memo.There have been artifacts, the DNA of Ramses III came back proving that he is "sub Saharan" African.
Not only was the film filled with horrible direction and acting (minus a few scenes with C B).Overall the film was impassioned.I was generous by giving it 1 star; although zero wasn't an option.With this type of budget - they could have created a more accurate film with better directing.I hope that next time a Hollywood movie is made about religious or historical events they at least make the minimum effort to create something worthy of even being viewed..
The problem in this flick was lie in the story telling.As we know, Ridley Scott is an excellent narrator, but this movie was too short even though it ran 150 minutes.
Christian Bale, awesome; Joel Edgerton, good; Ben Kingsley, never required; Aaron Paul, totally waste.Overall, not cleverly stablised in the scenes that are very important, especially the final one about ten commandments should have been extended a little bit with a moral message.
This movie takes a special kind of person to appreciate the time, effort, and heart that went into portraying moses story without bias.
With over two and a half hour running time you would think Ridley had more than enough time to flesh out Exodus and give it pacing and character development, but the film just felt like it was rushing along while at the same time taking too long to get to the point.
It is as grand-standing as the original, yet modern technology and Hollywood's penchant for sensationalism did not corrupt the basic tenet of the awe-inspiring greatness of the most world-renown men in ancient Christian history.I used to love Christian Bale, but lost all favor when I watched his real-life epic, vitriolic melt-down, caught-on-camera, on the set during the filming on one of his movies.
His role as Moses has made me forgive and let go of that horrible violent tantrum, and what better way to have done so than to remind us all, by playing one of the Bible's greatest men in Christian history, that we are all prone to sin, yet we are also all divine and working our way back to God.THIS is how much watching this movie affected me.
I'm not sure if Ridley Scott has taken the "Alternate Universe" Version of this story or just written the script based on Chinese Whispers but the movie was scarcely based on the Bible.
But if Ridley had read the story from the bible he would have found out it was WAY more epic then his movie.
Not to mention making the plagues just seem like a random act of nature instead of the divine intervention from God and skipping several KEY biblical story points.
Overall probably a great movie if you didn't know the Bible existed but it just seemed to much like a different version of Gladiator with the relationship between the Pharaoh, Son and Moses..
I didn't see this movie for religious reasons, I like the way they made me believe I was looking at old Egypt.
If you don't mind a different view of the biblical story and like movies of this kind you cannot be disappointed..
If you want to know the story of Moses, watch the animated movie called Prince of Egypt.
There's a massive battle where Egyptian general Moses saves the life of Ramses the Pharoah in waiting and soon this respect for one another soon gives way to animosity because the story requires it similar to Maximus and the Emperor in GLADIATOR and while being reminded of that film I was also constantly reminded of the director's KINGDOM OF HEAVEN from about ten years ago .
To give Scott his due the production values were good and all the money is up there on screen and the performances are never jarring with Australian actors Joel Edgerton and Ben Mendelsohn being the pick of the impressive cast What let's this film down however is that there's several screenwriters .
It is an insult to any cinema-goer and definitely the worst biblical movie ever committed to film.The script is truly abysmal, the dialogue awful, as well as the acting from Christian Bale and Ben Kingsley.
There are aspects to the story about Moses that could have been developed in such way that would make this movie more interesting to watch.
The word Exodus is defined as a mass departure of people, Gods in this case are the Movie Studios and Kings would be the Director and actors.
"Exodus: Gods and Kings" (2014), directed by Ridley Scott is a return to the oft-told Biblical story, most famously filmed by Cecil B.
Scott's movies always look extraordinary and this is no exception: the film's stand-out sequence is the ten plagues overwhelming the Egyptian capital of Memphis, the Nile turning red and the waves of all-consuming locusts and flies, a visual coup that belongs to a better thought-out film."Exodus: Gods and Kings" is undoubtedly a flawed film, belonging to the lower tier's of Scott's filmography, and yet in its pictorial richness, it becomes strangely fascinating despite the neglect of a host fine thespians and the erratic quality of its special effects.
I have enjoyed many movies by Mr. Scott but in my own personal opinion this movie was a complete waste of time and a false portrayal of the actual events of Exodus, Moses, God, the plagues, etc.
It is hard to imagine that this film is helmed by Ridley Scott, director of some of the biggest and most acclaimed movies of all time.
I hope you, in spite of various negative reviews, give it a try - at least to meet Christian Bale as Moses or see your "Prince of Egypt" come alive as a film..
I really really tried to like this movie and even though I was not happy about Christian Bale playing the role of Moses I still tried to watch the mis/cast/take and thought give CB a chance to do his thang.
Ridley Scott make a brilliant adaptation of the Bible, to show the fascinating story of the exodus of 400,000 people from Egypt.
The story is like the bible, without the silly magic, what makes this movie a great and realistic epic.
o ridley were did this start to go so wrong half way through i gave a 2 out of ten when the movie finished it was back to one out of ten and that was for the frogs script poor dialogue poor Christian bale has done so much better this movie has let him down mediocre performance at best ill bet even ben kingsley super star as he is must have raised an eyebrow having seen the final cut where are the stunning cinematography shots the fantastic angles the breath taking lighting that we all associate with a ridley scott movie or maybe biblical story telling is just not your forte the only real feeling of relief when the movie finished for me was the credits.
Exodus: Gods and kings is directed by Ridley Scott, stars Christian Bale as Moses and Joel Edgerton as Ramses.
It's great to see Sigourney Weaver back in a Ridley Scott film even if she has like two lines so there's not much to be excited about.
The scope of this film is huge displaying a modern tale of Moses story in which Egypt never looked so big and grand; just like it should have been at that time.Overall the entire film looks beautiful with great performances from leading actors, I loved the epic scope but it may be a bit too long..
I just want the readers to not waste their time on this movie just because it has Christian Bale in it....
Exodus: Gods and Kings tells the story of Moses(Christian Bale).
Ben Kingsley is great as Nun. Exodus: Gods and Kings is proof that great special effects & an all star cast don't necessarily make up a good movie..
They make Moses look like he and God disagreed about everything, and they added characters (one throughout the entire movie) that were just bizarre and had no place in it.
So Mr Scott should have made a mythological epic and pulled all stops.The other problem I had with this film was the casting and the language which I felt were anachronistic .You can tell this is a modern re-telling of the story, it almost like Alexander set in biblical times.
Christian bale and Joel did good role and the effects were enough to make a movie or attract audience.