Exodus: Gods and Kings

Exodus: Gods and Kings – Moses, an orphan, has been raised by Ramses’ father, Pharaoh Seti I and, having grown up together, he and Seti’s son, Ramses, are as close as brothers. A prophecy suggesting that Moses could become a leader one day makes Ramses unsure of his bond with him and, when Moses confesses under duress to being Hebrew, he is exiled from the royal family and his home. Many years later, Moses has a vision from God telling him to return and free his people – the Hebrews who have been slaves of Egypt for 400 years. Reluctantly doing as he is commanded, Moses goes back and begins a campaign to free the slaves. When God brings about several brutal plagues against Moses’ former people, his doubts weigh heavy on him but knowing that he cannot turn his back on the slaves, Moses does all he can to take the Hebrews back to Canaan, their homeland.

Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) – Director: Ridley Scott

Rating: 12

Running Length: 150 mins

Starring: Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley

Genre: Drama, Biblical

REVIEW – ‘EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS’

Based upon the story of Exodus – the second book of the Bible’s Old Testament about the freeing of the Israelites from Egypt – ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’ focuses on Moses’ journey; going from a life of entitlement, to basic family life and then to reluctant hero and leader. All the staples of the story are there, including the plagues of Egypt (which have been somewhat changed for the movie), the oppression of the slaves and the Ten Commandments.

The main trouble with ‘Exodus’ is that the core of its drama is very character led, but the characters are difficult to empathise with. The bond between Moses and Ramses isn’t given enough screen time to create any drama when they are torn apart by something which is out of their control. Similarly, Ramses is supposed to be a brutal leader but in fact he is unwittingly displayed as more practical than cruel.

Also, other than a few whippings and some bodies lying about, the slaves never seem to be too badly treated, quite the opposite: they are shown as very strong, both physically and mentally. ‘Exodus’ is so keen to race ahead to the moments it deems important that it skimps on building enough believability to make us care; plot holes abound. For example, it is difficult to believe that Moses would be able to secretly train vast numbers of the slaves to become soldiers without the Egyptian guards finding out. At one point, God is represented by the image of a boy and, as he has a slight speech impediment, he comes across more petulant than authoritative. Despite ‘Exodus’ trying to imbue some dramatic weight, when the plot can’t lend a vision of God any credibility (begging the question: why would Moses, a former army General, take any notice of a supposed precocious child’s demands?) then it is difficult to really care.

While ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’ is not a bad film and it is certainly visually spectacular, those wanting an accurate retelling of the Biblical epic are likely to be disappointed.

CONTENT: IS ‘EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

There is a battle scene towards the beginning of the movie where the Egyptians vastly outnumber their enemies, the Hittites. During this scene, there are neck and torso stabbings, people are trampled under chariots and horses and there is a lot of death, however most of these moments are quick and not overly gory.

One character is shown being whipped, this is a little graphic with several bloody wounds on his back although the man with the whip tells another character that ‘he says he feels no pain’.

Two characters get married and on their wedding night, after a romantic conversation, the male character undoes a lace on the female’s top and they kiss before the scene ends. This is done very gently and tenderly and is not in any way sexually graphic.

When Ramses becomes Pharaoh, his persecution of the slaves becomes much worse than in his father’s reign. Bodies are seen dragged and thrown onto carts, screams can be heard and vultures fly overhead.

One scene in particular shows the slaves being treated badly with soldiers knocking down the doors to their homes, which are then set on fire. They are beaten, trampled under the hooves of horses and one established character is hit hard on the head, knocking him to the ground. Ramses hangs a family (father, mother and son), explaining that he will do this every day until Moses is found. Several other families are shown to be hung throughout the following scenes and another character also suffers the same fate. The images are rather graphic and one of them is seen to look distressed beforehand and he screams when he is hung and his legs are seen kicking for a couple of seconds.

Some of the plagues sent to the Egyptians are very brutal. One starts with several large crocodiles attacking some men on a boat; they ram their bodies into the side, knocking several of the men into the water who are snatched up into the jaws of the crocodiles. One man manages to stay on the boat but has his leg grabbed by a crocodile, it snaps its jaws on him and attempts to do a death roll in order to rip the leg off his body. The boat is seen from a short distance and bloody water is seen splashing high into the air. The camera cuts before anything too gory is seen but it is clear that all of these men are killed. Afterwards, dozens more crocodiles are seen swimming past the carnage of the boat and, indeed, all of the rivers of Egypt turn to blood.

Another plague is the death of the animals. It starts with a horse and a cow coughing up blood. The cow’s owner becomes very distressed that the animal is dying as he is obviously very attached to it, like a pet. Also, flies, maggots and locusts attack all the food sources so the people begin to starve. Ramses tells his advisors that he will not share his food with his people, leading to several desperate people to storm the grain stores but, when they come out they are all killed by soldiers who are outside waiting for them.

Perhaps the most upsetting plague is the deaths of every first-born child. One established character suffers greatly when his child dies, he screams in anguish and is visibly devastated. The child is then seen mummified and the character is clearly struggling to cope with his loss.

During the famous ‘parting of the Red Sea’ scene; when the water recedes, both the Hebrews and the Egyptians walk along the sea bed and soon the waves threaten to return the sea to normal. Ramses’ obsession with stopping Moses means that he forces his men to continue to chase them despite their fear of the water. Soon, the waves which have formed a tsunami come crashing down and some established characters and the Egyptian army are caught up in it. The majority of these people (and horses) are killed and while several bodies are shown in the water or washed up on a beach, the deaths are not overly graphic.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT – IS ‘EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS’ FOR KIDS?

‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’ had the potential to be a great epic and, with the source material being so well-known throughout the world, had no reason to be so disappointing. The lack of believable character development and the strange depiction of God is off-putting and while the spectacle itself is enjoyable, its inability to engage the audience on a more human level will undoubtedly cause many to lose interest before the end credits roll.

Many children are likely to know the story of Exodus but the adult themes of oppression, hangings and death (much of which is seen up close) are likely to be too strong for most kids aged under 9.

• Violence: 4/5 (one character is threatened with having their arm chopped off if they are suspected of lying, there is some tension for around a minute but another character comes to their aid. One character badly injures his leg and there is a brief close-up shot of the bloody wound. There are many incidental characters who get trampled by horses, stabbed, killed by arrows; hundreds are also killed by falling from a height)
• Emotional Distress: 3/5
• Fear Factor: 2/5 (Ramses can be quite unpredictable and his callousness at killing innocent people may be quite confusing and upsetting for a lot of kids)
• Sexual Content: 2/5 (there is a small amount of innuendo when an effeminate male character asks Moses ‘is there any way I could please you?’ but it is subtle and many kids will not pick up on it)
• Bad Language: 0/5
• Dialogue: 2/5(One character tells another ‘every Hebrew child not yet walking never will, I will drown them in the river’)
• There are some animal deaths in the movie, a horse dies from exhaustion and the carcass of another is attacked by sharks; several sheep are caught in a mudslide although it is not clear whether they are killed. A man hunts a small rodent-like animal which is seen shortly afterwards roasting on a spit. Also, a large bird lies dead on a table and a woman cuts open its stomach. Another character asks her ‘What do the entrails say?’ He then picks up a cup which has been filled with the bird’s blood, dips his finger into it then tastes it. The slaves are told to slaughter lambs and mark their doorposts with the blood. No slaughter is seen but buckets of blood are shown in close up.
• Other notes: Deals with themes of friendship, family, fighting for what’s right even if it means betraying the people you care about, trusting and following God’s will even if it seems strange and barbaric, obsession, slavery and destiny.

Words by Laura Record

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