Exodus: Gods and Kings

The outstanding part about Exodus : Gods and Kings is the courage that Ridley Scott has shown with telling the story without any qualms about rubbing people the wrong way.  The Old Testament (from whatever little I know) shows God in a very dark form.  One who didn’t hesitate before wreaking havoc amongst the Egyptians.

Exodus : Gods and Kings doesn’t spend time in the back story of Moses (Christian Bale) except for a quick reference before Moses is exiled.  It begins with Moses as a grown man and a General in the Eqyptian army.  He is the blue eyed boy of the then Pharaoh Seti (John Turturro). Seti makes no bones about it either.

The story moves onto the mythical place called Pithom where the Hebrews (as Jews were called then) were enslaved to build a couple of the wonders of the world amongst other giant monuments.  This is where Moses gets introduced to the “elders” led by Nun (Ben Kingsley) and returns a man confused.

Most of you know the rest of the story where Moses is exiled and he meets God (or an apparition or whatever you would like to call the boy).  He leads a fight against the Great Rhameses and doesn’t quite achieve quick enough progress and then God intervenes and turns the river red, sends a plague of frogs, swarms Egypt with flies and locusts and eventually takes away every child.

Exodus is a MASSIVE movie.  It is the 2^nd biggest Epic of this year after Noah and does every bit justice to one of the oldest stories known to humanity.  It does so with a lot of class and not just blatant use of special effects.  It dumbs down the parts that need to be and delivers larger than life execution where required.

There is a sense of practicality that Scott has used in his explanation of the phase where God loses patience with the Eqyptians.  In fact this is probably the most muted version of the parting of the Red Sea that I have seen ever.  The tide just recedes.  No fancy parting.  Just the wall of water that washes away everything in its path when the Hebrews have crossed finally.

Exodus needs to be seen on the big screen.  Take your kids along so that they don’t miss out on one of the oldest Epics known to man. They need to know about it.  And preferably at IMAX Wadala (for Mumbai guys).  I saw it at PVR IMAX but I do believe that Wadala will offer a better experience.  It will give you the best experience – because that’s what Exodus is all about.  An Experience.  8 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1381084953/?ref_=tt_ov_vi