Let me preface this review that is sure to have some rolling eyes-- I didn't really have a desire to see this movie. I'm a big fan of Christian Bale and I recognize his ability to choose a role that comes with it, a good movie. I'm also a big fan of director Ridley Scott (though is last few efforts, The Counselor, Prometheus, Robin Hood, Body of Lies, A Good Year, have been less than sufficient). But, the over-abundance of biblical movies this year has pushed this movie into the backburner for me for what I wanted to spend my time and money watching. I've already seen The Ten Commandments as well as The Prince of Egypt. Was this a movie that I desperately needed to see... again? Absolutely not. It's not even a movie that needed to be made. But it was. And I saw it. And I thoroughly enjoyed almost all of it.
It's the same story we've seen countless times before of the book of Exodus. Ramses and Moses begin as brothers. Once it is revealed that Moses (Bale) was born a Hebrew, he is exiled by his now Pharaoh brother Ramses (Joel Edgerton). Moses is contacted by a burning bush (also known as God) to be the leader to free the Hebrews from the clutches of Ramses. When Ramses refuses God unleashes a series of plagues such as the rivers running red with blood, locusts, the killing of the first born sons, etc. Then, once he finally gives in, Moses leads his people through the desert, parts the Red Sea, and they're now "free". There's nothing really new here. It's the same story with better actors, better computer effects, and a great director. Almost anyone who decides to watch the film... or is forced to watch the film... will find it quite enjoyable. Hey, it's better than Noah.
But what about those who are unfamiliar with the story? What about those who haven't seen The Ten Commandments or The Prince of Egypt? This is one of the few problems I had with the film. It's a writing and/or directorial choice, but hardly anything is explained to the viewer. It's Scott's style not to baby his audience, but those unfamiliar with the source material will find a lot of the film very confusing. Those who know the story know that the slaughtering of a lamb and the smearing of its blood on the posts of the houses shows the Holy Spirit that a Hebrew lives there and to stay out of the house. Those who don't bloody up their houses will have their first born sons killed. This is in response to the previous pharaoh taking the Hebrew first born sons and dumping them maliciously into the River Thames. However, none of this is explained. It just... happens. Someone who didn't already know the story would be very lost. They just assume that everyone watching is familiar with the story, which then begs the question-- if we already know the story, why tell it again?
Another small problem I had with the film was that Ridley Scott decided to go semi-realistic in his portrayal of the "miracles" that happen in the film. The burning bush sits in the background as the voice of God is personified in a little snarky child that talks to Moses. Moses doesn't part the Red Sea with his staff... the water just kind of recedes. While it isn't that big of a deal, the visual of the burning bush speaking to Moses and the visual of Moses physically parting the sea are very powerful and iconic moments in both the Bible and on film. Moses is acting as a vessel for God and when he doesn't actively part the sea... and it just happens... it takes away some of the power of the story. But, this was just a directorial choice that some won't mind, but I happened to disagree with.
Other than that, I didn't have any problems with the film. It was very well acted and extremely entertaining. Yes, there was a bit of racial insensitivity by casting white Brits as middle easterns, but get over it. Stop being so sensitive, America. We've done it for years. Charlton Heston was Moses. Freaking Val Kilmer was moses (I know he was drawn brown, but he was voiced by a definite whitey). Look past that it's not skin-correct and look at it more as an entertaining retelling of a story that is still a very fascinating story from the Bible. My expectations were exceeded greatly.
B+
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