The thought of Ridley doing a swords and sandals film gets me all
giddy. After all, he provided such great ones with Gladiator, Kingdom of
Heaven, and even Robin Hood (yeah, I said that shit). This one delves
deeper into the religious zone, but, it is an interesting story. I
didn't know much about it before going in, as I'm not familiar with
Bible texts. I know Moses parted a sea, that's about it.
The overall story is very interesting, to me anyways. Two boys, who
grow up together to be men, one of royalty, and the other the leader of
the kings army, or essentially a servant. However, the father, who is
king, sees greater worth in his army's leader. Now, right here, one of
the glaring similarities that start to show through is with the plot in
Gladiator. In that film, we had Caesar, and his loyal soldier, and
dickhead son. Same scenario, different time.
To be fair, you could pick many films that have had a similar story
arc, but with Ridley, it seems as though he was treading familiar
ground, but didn't do it so well this time. Exodus has all the makings
of a sweeping epic. Big budget, grand scale sets, grand scale effects,
grand scale cast.
Is it a grand film? No. Somewhere along the line, Ridley forgot to
give the audience something to care about. With his previous 3 films of
this nature, I felt an emotion throughout the film, that drew me in and
made me love them. With this, the scripting just doesn't do it for me.
We know that Moses must free the slaves, but we don't get drawn into why
he really feels this. Sure, he's had a falling out with his mate, gets
banished from the city, and then has an epiphany about it all. For me,
it wasn't enough.
Bale is the standout amongst the cast. He can lead a film for sure,
but, the way this story unfolds, I just found it difficult to feel what
he is feeling - that his journey involves freeing the slaves. Edgerton,
well, I love him, but, I just don't know if he was right for this role.
And, that is not because he is a white dude. I just think his bad guy
schtick wasn't enough. Sigourney Weaver also stars, I think. She's in
there, if you can find her.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate this film. It is good, it just
doesn't hit the emotional points it needed to justify the character's
actions on screen. Will I buy it on Bluray? Yeah, I probably will,
because it looks fantastic. And, you never know, I could learn to love
it.
Rating:
3 out of 5.
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