Exodus: Gods and Kings was pretty bland. Some of the grander scenes were suitably epic in nature, but for the most part it was just filled with a serviceable script and average acting. God, the bioterrorist, is depicted in a very unfavorable light in all his Old Testament glory, with characters not hesitating to call him a child murderer and Moses himself questioning God's actions. The movie's sort of meant to be more "realistic" and so skips some of the fantastical elements of the story (e.g. the staffs turning into snakes), but this ends up not working very well and detracting from the movie instead. The parting of the Red Sea just ends up being water receding before a tsunami which just looks absolutely terrible and is obviously nowhere near as impressive as what you imagine it to be or what it's like in previous movies such as The Ten Commandments. This is a huge loss as the best parts of the movie end up being the "epic" parts, such as the early battle and the plagues, except Ridley Scott decided it would be a good idea to omit the most memorable part of the whole story. The closing of the Red Sea's still very impressive, but it's just not the same thing (also howdotsunamiswork). The editing for this section of the movie was really bad as well; the speed and distance of the tsunami kept varying depending on what shot type was used and the last strip completely changed from a set of cliffs to a beach.

Everybody who isn't Moses and Ramses/Ramesses has almost no development at all, with Aaron and Joshua in particular having basically no role of significance in the movie. I have no idea what was meant to be happening with the way Ben Kingsley talked. The whole thing was drawn out too long and ultimately lacked any emotional impact; this is meant to be founding myth of Israel, but instead becomes a story about terrorists and how Old Testament God was a dick. This obviously isn't a movie that's going to appeal to religious audiences (which I'm not a part of anyway) because of the depiction of God and it ignores key parts of the Exodus story, such as passing over the Passover altogether (geddit?). On the other hand though, there are references to things which people who aren't from a Judeo-Christian background are almost certainly not going to notice, such as a brief glimpse at the golden calf. I have no idea who this movie is meant to appeal to. If you want to watch a more enjoyable, Biblically-accurate and all-round better depiction of the Exodus, just watch The Prince of Egypt instead.

As visually spectacular as you would expect from a Ridley Scott film (although the 3D is terrible and best avoided), this is equally hampered by a similar issue that plagued Kingdom of Heaven - it feels like there is a stronger director's cut waiting in the wings. The opening portion of the film, detailing Moses' life as an Egyptian prince feels rushed and disjointed and it is really only when he is exiled that the film settles into a much stronger edit. Bale gives a strong performance throughout as a more conflicted central character than previous depictions of Moses and there is an interesting choice to introduce a certain element of ambiguity to the more overt religious aspects of the story - the film treads a fine line between suggesting natural causes and more spiritual ones throughout. This makes for a much more interesting take on a very familiar story, but equally it is likely that a future cut will vastly improve the disjointed nature of some of the film.

What a hunk of junk! Boring, under used talented actors and a story line so raped from the original it makes Noah looks like a master piece..

Known as the white washing Ridley Scott version of the Ten Commandments. People forget that the critically acclaimed Charlton Heston film was also a big white washing Hollywood version.
That doesn't mean that most the actors in Exodus don't stick out like a sore thumb though. Especially Christian Bale but he gets better as the film goes on.
The film got knocked for having no black actors. I guess since it’s now thought that the Egyptians might actually have been black.

If I didn't already know the story I wouldn't know anything about the story by watching this. It's visually pleasing. Just many things happen that make me wonder where they got their information for the script. I couldn't watch it all. God knows how they ended it. I don't care, so I stopped watching.

Worst Ridley Scott and Christian Bale movie.

This is one of those movies I just get to know while zapping. Because I enjoy historical epic movies (and yes, the adjective "historical" is a bit stretched but let's overpass that discussion here), I took the opportunity to watch it.

For what I had the opportunity to read after it, there are many negative reviews about this movie, still one common positive note: Christian Bale's performance is really something, and it might definitively save the movie. His role as Moses, portrayed as the general he always was, grant a different view of the classical Moses.

Also, there was an attempt to give the ten plagues some sort of logical explanation, but with their root in God Himself, and the great landmark of the Hebrew Exodus, the parting of the Red Sea, was presented in a more, let's say, less divine way. All of this gave the movie a different atmosphere, with Moses and all the events related to the liberation of the Hebrew people a more human touch.

It might not be a great movie, but the way the Exodus is presented, and the performance of Christian Bale, make it at least interesting to watch.

It’s definitely a movie worth watching if you want some good epic action scenes. Now if your looking for something that sticks to the Bible, it does it very loosely, and honestly the way they portray God is definitely not biblical.

I’m surprised that the story of Moses got picked on for white washing. It’s not like the Ten Commandments with Charton Heston didn’t. Yet that is called a classic. Hollywood has made Egyptians white so much. That I had to actually look up if they were black or not.
It is believed now that they might actually have been black. However, for this story it sort of works that they are white. Hear me out. Since, Moses thinks he is the blood brother of Ramses with both the same parents. Wouldn’t work if Moses was Jewish and Ramses black.
Spoiler: The films takes liberties already though. I don’t recall Ramses dying in any other version. Yet, he dies in this movie. So if they were going to change that. Might as well have had black Egyptians if they were really black.
Anyway despite the white washing this is a pretty decent film about Moses and the 10 Commandments. Though, The Ten Commandments and the Prince of Egypt are better movies.

The shadow of The Ten Commandments looms large over Ridley Scott's Exodus: Gods and Kings, and it never quite escapes it. Essentially Scott tells the same story (with minor changes here and there), but he doesn't seem to have a focus or a message. To some extent the film's about the humbling of Moses and his turn toward faith, but it's very subtle. Additionally, aside from Moses and Ramses, very few characters are fleshed out and given screen time. On the other hand, the special effects are incredibly well-done and provide an impressive sense of scope. Also, the cinematography and score are extraordinary and give the film a remarkable look and feel. While it provides an interesting new perspective on the classical biblical tale, Exodus: Gods and Kings lacks direction.

Scott's visually stunning epic is an emotionless event.

Disappointing. The movie wasn't tense at any moment. The writing was poor. The kid acting as God's messenger made no sense. Moses didn't carry his staff, so no snake scene and even more disappointing, no splitting the sea in 2. A lot in this movie did not make sense.

Skip it: would rather have watched the Ten Commandments on Easter.