Exodus: Gods and Kings revisits the Biblical tale that follows Moses and Ramses II, starring Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton in the pivotal roles.

As in the Bible, in Exodus: Gods and Kings, Moses is raised alongside Ramses, whom he regards as a brother. Living a life of riches and privilege, it’s not until a sage of the Jewish people tells him that he was born one of them that he realizes he’s meant to save them from slavery. Moses initially tries a diplomatic approach, banking on his relationship with his brother to have the Jews freed. When that doesn’t work, he helps God deliver the plagues.

‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’ Reviews

Exodus: Gods and Kings’ theatrical debut was preceded by both high expectations and controversy. With Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Kindom of Heaven) at the helm and talented Bale as the star, it had the potential to be this year’s Noah – despite the fact that there was a general consensus that actors of color should have been hired. However, the film has been met with highly critical reviews that target just about everything – from the acting and dialogue to the unimpressive CGI.

“Ridley Scott’s “Exodus: Gods and Kings’’ is an utterly clueless, relentlessly grim and rambling action epic guaranteed to displease devout Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, amuse atheists — and generally bore everyone.Poorly acted and badly written, with uninspired direction and cheesy special effects, “Exodus’’ also has such dimly lit scenes that, when viewed in 3-D, look like you’re watching the whole mess through a dirty fish tank.” – Lou Leminick, New York Post

“Scott has received flak from religious groups for taking liberties with the source material, but he also has raised the hackles of laymen. He responded that big names are necessary in order to finance a movie. He also said he believed that the actors selected were the best people for the parts. But they aren’t, and that’s true not just because of racial veracity. […]It’s understandable that people were angry about the whitewashing of Egypt. But no aspiring actor of color should think of this as an opportunity missed so much as a bullet dodged.” – Stephanie Merry, Washington Post

“Gone, gone, gone is the traditional depiction of the Almighty as an unseen voice in the clouds: A snarky, querulous 11-year-old boy gets the call instead. Even more unsettling, the Red Sea doesn’t dramatically part the way we’ve gotten used to; it just kind of fades away, only to come roaring back when no one is expecting it. […] Despite the best efforts of all those writers, however, the dramatic side of “Exodus” alternates between being completely solemn and unintentionally silly, with lines of dialogue like a snarky Aaron telling his son, “This is your famous uncle Moses” being more the rule than the exception.” – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times.

“A numbing and soulless spectacle of 3-D, computer-generated imagery run amok, Ridley Scott’s “Exodus: Gods and Kings” presents an enduring tale by pummeling us over the head with it. The story of Moses rising up against the Pharaoh Ramses and leading hundreds of thousands of Hebrew slaves out of Egypt to freedom is one with which we’re all extremely familiar. Scott is not reinventing the wheel here. Rather, he’s invented the biggest, shiniest, noisiest wheel imaginable, then he runs over us with it rather than inviting us along for the ride.” Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com.

Exodus: Gods and Kings, which also stars Sigourney Weaver, John Turturro, Ben Mendelsohn, Ben Kingsley, Aaron Paul and Indira Varma, is currently in wide release.