Exodus: Gods and Men was a movie that I thought would be great, then I thought it would be terrible, and then I thought it would be okay was one that ended up being pretty good. I am a massive fan of Christian Bale (The Dark Knight Rises, Out of the Furnace) and Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator). Bale has had numerous hits over the last decade. I’d say I’ve seen 13 out of his previous 15 movies that I’ve been a big fan of. Once as reliable as they come, Scott has had some misses in recent years, most notably The Counselor and Robin Hood. Both of these movies should have been great, and both underwhelmed. Even after my research, I still have almost no idea about what the plot of The Counselor was. And even though neither of these men was associated with the disaster that was Noah, that movie also had a respected actor (Russell Crowe) and director (Darren Aronofsky). It was quickly my least favorite movie of 2014. Fairly or unfairly, Noah tempered my expectations of Exodus: Gods and Men. It did not help that the Bale/Scott venture got panned by the critics (28% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and was equally shunned by audiences (just $65 million domestically despite a $140 million production cost). And I am not well-versed enough in the story of Moses to know how actual this movie was to the Biblical account. What I do remember is that I enjoyed this movie. It is currently my 12th favorite movie of 2014. I don’t expect it, at this point, to fall any lower than that.

Bale plays the role of Moses. Say what you will about Bale, but he’s not afraid to venture outside the norm. He takes chances. I love him as an actor. In the last 5+ years, only a handful of actors have been better (DiCaprio, Pitt, Gosling, Gordon-Levitt, Michael Fassbender, Bradley Cooper, and Tom Hardy) come to mind). The traditional heavyweights outside DiCaprio and Pitt (Hanks, Will Smith, Washington, Cruise, Day-Lewis, De Niro, etc.) have dropped out of the spotlight. Others (Day-Lewis, Hanks) have fallen into the pattern of doing the same movie repeatedly (Tom Cruise saves the world, Denzel Washington saves a plane, a train, a subway, a boat from catastrophe, etc.). Others have gotten into the habit of just making movie after movie to earn a paycheck without the intent of making a great film (De Niro).

I like guys who take chances, and Bale does just that. So I considered it a risk when he signed on to do 2009’s Terminator Salvation. The movie made $125 million at the box office, but it earned just 33% on Rotten Tomatoes. The point I am making here was that this was a franchise that most critics and fans probably thought had peaked and was ready to ride into the sunset. If nothing else, it didn’t need a caliber actor like Bale at the helm. He may have helped earn the movie a couple more million, but this movie was going to make what it received, in my opinion, regardless of who its lead was. So I thought it was a mistake for him to do this movie. I am a fan of the Terminator franchise, but I have yet to see this film, primarily because of its poor reviews, but I applaud him for taking on the role. In any case, he does not fail to disappoint as Moses in Exodus: Gods and Kings.

Before starting this review, I want to say that I am a Christian, but I’m not particularly eager to discuss my faith in a public forum such as this. I believe in what I believe, and I don’t feel the need to discuss that with anyone. I have a deep respect for all religions, faiths, spirituality, and those who are agnostic or atheist. The fact of the matter is that there is a lot of unknown. If you are deeply grounded in what you believe, I love that. If what you believe (or don’t believe) helps positively guide your life, I love that. If you approach as many days as you can with kindness, compassion, respect, and tolerance for others, then I think that is awesome, and it doesn’t matter to me at all how you got there. When I started writing this review, I tagged “based on a true story,” but I quickly unchecked that. Some people would say this is based on a true story, while others say it is not. Long story short…it didn’t need the tag.

Things are perfect for Moses, Ramses, and Pharaoh Seti until one day discovered that he is a Hebrew, sent to Egypt when he was just a baby. Seti dies just before this information is leaked. When Ramses learns of Moses’s true lineage, he exiles him. Moses accepts his life-altering change by choosing to become a shepherd and forming a family of his own after falling in love with Zipporah (Maria Valverde – The Liberator, Broken Horses). While all is not perfect in his world (Moses doesn’t share the same faith as his wife and child, he is still upset with the slavery situation in Egypt and, specifically, the way Ramses is ruling), he is content living his quiet little life. But one day, he is caught in a rockslide where he breaks his leg and becomes submerged in mud. He hears a voice and sees a burning bush. A child named Malak appears. He is a representation of God sent to speak with Moses. The boy takes some stones, stacks them together to form a pyramid, and tells him he must free his people.

Moses trains the Hebrews in the art of combat to ward off the Egyptians. Malak reappears and warns him of the ten plagues, the ninth of which is that all firstborn children will die. It is here when Ramses allows Moses and the enslaved people their release. But Ramses’s goodwill does not last for long. Still grieving over his son, he decides to hunt Moses and the enslaved people down with the use of his army. The Hebrews are chased through the mountains and eventually arrive at the Red Sea with no place to go. Well, even those who aren’t Christians probably know what happens next. If not, I won’t ruin it for you.

Exodus: Gods and Kings is a movie that a lot of people know a lot about going into it, so maybe, to them, the film isn’t about having as many surprises as it is about how the movie is adapted from the Bible and translated to the film. I did not know as much about the story as I thought I did, and, again, I don’t want to get too religious here. This is simply a movie review. I don’t know and don’t want to know about the other inaccuracies and whatnot. What I do know is that this was an entertaining film. This film and Noah were each released within a few months of each other. I hated almost every second of Noah, and I thought it made me nervous about giving this new movie a chance. I wish I could have the 2+ hours of my life back. I gave up watching Noah. However, that was not the case with Exodus: Gods and Kings. This movie highly entertained me, and I would recommend it to people who like movies that are adaptations of the Bible.

Plot 9/10
Character Development 8.5/10
Character Chemistry 8.5/10
Acting 9/5/10
Screenplay 8.5/10
Directing 8.5/10
Cinematography 9/10
Sound 8.5/10
Hook and Reel 8.5/10
Universal Relevance 9/10
87%

Movies You Might Like If You Liked This Movie

• Noah
• Gladiator
• 300
• Kingdom of Heaven
• Apocalypto